Plastic waste seen submerged in water during an event to clear garbage from Lampung bay in the Sukaraja village in the Bumi Waras subdistrict of Bandar Lampung on February 21, 2019 (Source: AFP)Bangkok (NNT/VNA) - Thailand, as chair of ASEAN, has hosted theSpecial ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Marine Debris. All member countries agreedto the Bangkok Declaration and the Framework of Action on marine debrismanagement in the ASEAN region.
Gen. Surasak Karnjanarak, Thailand’s Minister of Natural Resources andEnvironment, says that the meeting discussed how to tackle the marine debrisproblem. The ASEAN member countries have agreed to work together in order toreduce the sources of waste.
He added that Thailand has proposed the implementation in order toreduce plastic, including the prohibition of plastic waste imports within 2years. Furthermore, by 2030, it will promote appropriate nationwide productionand consumption by recycling all waste. He added that the ASEAN region is oneof the biggest sources of marine waste, therefore it plans to establish anocean waste knowledge centre in Indonesia along with branches in the MekongBasin area.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s permanent secretary at the Ministry of NaturalResources and the Environment, Wicharn Simachaya, disclosed that the meetingagreed on the Bangkok Declaration and the Framework of Action on marine debrismanagement in the ASEAN region.
He said that the Framework of Action included policy development in theregion. In addition, ASEAN needs more research and development, especially inorder to replace plastic and to reduce plastic waste in the ocean. Moreover, headded that public participation and private partnerships are also important.-NNT/VNA
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