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 | Thursday, April 27, 2000, updated at 10:34(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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China | ||||||||||||
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Legislators Call for Ultimatum to Air-Polluted CitiesParticipants at the 15th session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Wednesday called for issuing an "ultimatum" to air-polluted cities.The top legislators made the call here during a panel to discuss on revising the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution. Some lawmakers were unsatisfied with the wording of the draft concerning enterprises which have failed to meet the requirements of national and local laws on environmental protection. They proposed that stricter measures be adopted to curb the discharge of pollutants into the air by factories, and that those that failing to meet national and local standards have their operation halted. During the discussion, the legislators showed great interest in dealing with the increasingly rampant sand and dust storms, the number of which now exceeds 20 a year, compared with five or six a year in the 1950s. Currently, sand and dust storms are affecting a dozen provinces, municipalities and ethnic autonomous regions in north China and a population of more than 300 million, according to official figures. The lawmakers also urged sand prevention and control efforts by increasing tree and grass planting, returning reclaimed land to forests, banning animal husbandry in favor of cultivating grass, and carrying out urban afforestation. Lai Aiguang, a member of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee of the NPC, suggested adding wording to the 22nd clause to encourage the development and utilization of equipment and instruments for measuring air pollution
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