The Global Environment Fund has granted $4.5 million to a four-year project to help Vietnam cleanse pesticides, belonging to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), in the environment, state media reported April 6. The Vietnam Environment Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment yesterday kicked off the project totaling $11 million in Hanoi to remove an estimated 150 tons of pesticides which are scattering in the country from now till 2014. The government of Vietnam has contributed $6.5 million of reciprocal capital to the project, the Nhan dan newspaper reported. So far local authorities have yet released any exact figures regarding pesticides volumes Vietnamese used for their crops a year but in 2004 locals used up to 48,300 tons of pesticides, up 2.5 folds compared to 1990s. A survey conducted by the MoNRE showed that 289 pesticides-containing warehouses are doted in 35 provinces and cities across the country, and 89 of which are allegedly causing environment pollution.
More than 1,150 areas are contaminated with pesticides across Vietnam, the survey highlighted.
