Quang Ngai (VNS/VNA) - Thesmoke and dust caused by traditional brick kilns has long been considereda threat to the environment and residents' health, but many obstacles stand inthe way of their elimination.

Hundreds of these kilns stillexist in central Quang Ngai province, although all owners of the old-stylebrick kilns were forced to stop using them and dismantle the kilns by August31, 2018.

After decades living near a brickkiln, Nguyen Van Tai in Nghia Phuong commune, said: “Every day we inhale dustand smoke from brick kilns. We can’t breathe, especially the kids.”

According to a report by Kinhte & Do thi  (Economic and Urban Affairs) newspaper, allold brick kilns in the province are based on obsolete technology andrelease huge amounts of pollutants, affecting people’s health and crops.

People living near brick kilnssaid that local authorities have not yet handled the issue, so owners of thekilns had found ways to delay demolition.

It takes a brick kiln 20 to 30days to produce a batch of products, but the kilns do not have a system toreduce smoke.

Poisonous smoke was released intothe air affecting residents' health. Many kilns are too old, making noise, andare at risk of exploding posing a threat to workers, said Nguyen Thi Thu, aresident in Song Ve township.

Although the kilns are harmful,they have brought a stable income to many households in the village in recentyears and have created jobs for hundreds of people, owners said. Most localresidents earned their living through working at brick kilns.

On June 6, 2018, the Quang NgaiPeople’s Committee released a decision banning all craft brick kilns in theprovince. Localities were asked to destroy all existing kilns in the areabefore August 31, 2018.

According to a report by theprovincial Construction Department, the province has about 250 traditionalbrick kilns, 51 of which have been eliminated.

At present, 192 kilns are inoperation. Tu Nghia district is home to the largest number of old-style brickkilns in Quang Ngai province with about 85, mostly in Nghia My, Nghia Phuongand La Ha River Town, located in residential areas and near schools.

A leader of Tu Nghia districtsaid brick kilns have brought great benefits to owners, so they have soughtways to delay the dismantling.

They deliberately stockpiledlarge quantities of clay, coal and firewood in the kiln and still secretlytransported more raw materials for daily production, the official said.

Le Trung Thanh, Chairman of the TuNghia District People's Committee, admitted that the removal of old brick kilnsin a short time was really difficult for local authorities.

“The biggest obstacle is creatingjobs for hundreds of workers and funding support to change careers for people.In order to do this, a huge amount of support is needed, while the district'sbudget is limited and unable to respond,” Thanh said.

In the future, together withencouraging brick kiln owners to stop their operation, the localgovernment will facilitate the purchase of unsold materials at brick kilns, aswell as consulting with locals on alternative careers to come up with the bestsolution, according to Thanh.

The district has requestedcommunes and towns that have rented land to brick kiln owners to immediatelyterminate the land lease and return the land to local authorities before April20.

Electricity firms are alsorequired to stop supplying electricity to these establishments.

The local government set a targetof eliminating traditional brick kilns before April 30, saidThanh.-VNS/VNA