VietNamNet Bridge – “Air pollution in Vietnam is getting serious in comparison with Southeast Asia and other Asian countries,” said Dang Van Loi, Deputy Director of the Agency for Pollution Control, under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

According to the national report on environment 2007, air pollution in cities was mainly caused by vehicles (70 percent). Scientists state that traffic contributes to 85 percent of the total volume of CO and 95 percent of VOCs.

Nguyen Hoang Duc, from the Agency for Pollution Control, said that “according to Japan’s research, the increase of motorbikes and cars in Vietnam has made air pollution in cities more seriously.”

“Public education about water pollution and pollution at industrial zones has been emphasized in recent years but air pollution has been neglected. Dust pollution in big cities in Vietnam has exceeded standards from 5-7 times,” says Duc .

Le Anh Tu from the Vietnam Registration of Vehicles, under the Ministry of Transport, said that “most of motorbikes in Vietnam are not maintained because the people don’t understand the harms of exhaust and the benefit of maintenance – reducing exhaust and saving energy.”

Dr. Pham Ngoc Ho from the University for Natural Science, has pointed out another source of air pollution: exhaust from coal, wood and straw – popular fuels in the countryside.

“We need to have a specific roadmap to reduce the use of polluting fuels so Vietnamese will only use clean fuels by 2020,” Dr. Ho said.

“We should ban the use of coal in daily use,” Ho suggested.

Motorbikes are now the most popular vehicles in Vietnam, accounting for 95 percent of the total vehicles in the country and 95 percent in big cities. Vietnam has around 3 million new motorbikes and 150,000 cars registered annually. Notably, motorbikes are not controlled for exhaust fume.

By the end of 2010, there were 33 million motorbikes and cars in Vietnam, including 1.4 million cars.

PV