Disasters and emergency response
Disasters
Kampot pepper defying drought fears
The increased cultivation area of Kampot pepper has offset losses due to drought, with farmers of the premium quality peppercorn estimating that production could reach 80 tonnes in the coming harvest, nearly 40 per cent more than last season. “Even though our farms were impacted by ...
Ho Chi Minh City to spend $443 million on embankment, drains to fight flooding
Ho Chi Minh City is seeking the prime minister’s approval to spend VND9.85 trillion, or more than US$443 million, on a massive anti-flooding project that will include a seven-kilometer riverside embankment. Keep reading ...
Indonesia fire haze hit Cambodia last month
Despite the Cambodian government’s uncertainty last month, US satellite imagery has confirmed that haze from Indonesian peat fires that has bedevilled the region did in fact reach Cambodia in October, with haze from local forest fires likely to succeed it as the dry season progresses, ...
Urgent action needed to offset Mekong Delta climate change
The Mekong Delta, one of the most vulnerable deltas in the world in regard to climate change, must begin to take urgent measures to deal with the continuing consequences of changing weather patterns, experts at a seminar held on 27 October in Can Tho urged. The seminar ...
Haze eases across Thailand's southern provinces
The haze from wildfires in Indonesia drifting into Thailand has generally improved in the southern provinces due to recent rain and strong winds. Chatchai Promlert, chief of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said the level of dust particles measuring less than 10 micrometres, or PM10, had dropped ...
Chin State faces looming food shortage after flood crisis
Three months after the nationwide flood disaster, civil society groups say that government has vastly underestimated the damage toll in Chin State, where locals are facing a looming food shortage. While emergency relief has found its way into many affected Chin State communities, local aid workers ...
Ho Chi Minh City smog to hang for another month
The smog covering Ho Chi Minh City since early this month will continue until at least the end of November when Indonesia is expected to put out its forest fires, an expert has said. After lifting for a while, the thick haze is back over many ...
ASEAN chokes on haze crisis
ASEAN leaders must seek an opportunity from the worsening haze crisis to tackle the problem at its roots and show the way to sustainable development. The smoke haze and accompanying pollutants that have blanketed several countries in the region is primarily caused by the burning of forest ...
Myanmar Government earmarks cash to rebuild 3000 homes
States and regions affected by natural disaster will receive government funding for rehabilitation next year. U Maung Win, director of the Department of Rural Development of the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development, said the funds would be enough to restore 3000 rural homes. Keep ...
The strongest El Nino in decades is going to mess with everything
It has choked Singapore with smoke, triggered Pacific typhoons and left Vietnamese coffee growers staring nervously at dwindling reservoirs. In Africa, cocoa farmers are blaming it for bad harvests, and in the Americas, it has Argentines bracing for lower milk production and Californians believing that ...