DongNai (VNA) - Brick-kilns in residential quarters - and those usingfossil fuel materials - in the southern province of Dong Nai must close nolater than the end of this year, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee TranVan Vinh announced in a recent conference in the province.

DeputyChairman Vinh asked district authorities to have detailed plans to close thebrick-kilns causing pollution.

Theprovince is currently home to two brick-kilns using fossil materials in Long Thanhand Vinh Cuu districts.

Theprovince has 140 brick-kilns not using fossil materials in Bien Hoa city and inLong Thanh, Trang Bom, Vinh Cuu and Xuan Loc districts.

Mostbrick-kilns were built in 2000 and upgraded in 2009.

Theaverage capacity of one brick-kiln is about 5-10 million bricks per year.

Mostof handicraft brick-kilns use wood to burn the bricks. However, they still usetyres and scraps of fabric to make fire. More seriously, several brick-kilnseven use tyres and scraps of fabric during the full burning period.

VoNiem Tuong, Director of the provincial Department of Environment Protection,said that owners of the brick-kilns committed to local authorities that theywill avoid such materials, but in fact they still use serious pollutants.

Recently,when studying handicraft brick-kilns’ environmental impact, the provincialDepartment of Natural Resources and Environment discovered that only 60 out of140 brick-kilns in the province were followed through on their commitment toprotect the environment.

BienHoa city is the area with the most number of brick-kilns in the province. Atthe conference, leaders of the city proposed to lengthen the period to closethe brick-kilns. Specifically, handicraft brick-kilns in An Hoa and Long Hung communesshould be allowed to operate until the end of next year, whereas handicraftbrick-kilns should be allowed to work until 2020.

NguyenThi Lan, owner of a brick-kiln in Bien Hoa city, said that every month herbrick-kiln produces about 500,000 baked bricks.

“Ifthe province asks us to close the brick-kiln by the end of this year, we willfollow, but we hope that province authorities will form supportive policies sothat my enterprise can transition toward producing non baked bricks,” she said.

Earlierin 2015, when the southern province of Binh Duong closed handicraftbrick-kilns, brick prices soared immediately from 700 VND (3 US cents) perbrick to 1,000 VND (4 US cents). Many brick-kilns in the province did not haveenough bricks to meet real demand.

TheDong Nai Department of Construction said that the province uses 1.3 billionbricks annually, but it produces only 130 million non-baked bricks per year.Thus, to meet real demand of non-baked bricks, the province must set up about60 production lines, each line with a capacity of 16-17 million bricks per year.

VuVan Dung, Director of the Nam Kien Co Ltd in Bien Hoa city, said that in thelong term, brick-kilns should change to produce non-baked bricks to reduceenvironmental pollution, but a proper way to change should be consideredcarefully to prevent a “shock” in the brick market.

Enterprisesthat produce non-baked bricks should openly share instruction so that localresidents can learn the correct techniques.-VNA