North Macedonia takes emergency anti-pollution steps
Source: Associated Press
North Macedonia takes emergency anti-pollution steps
By KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES
December 25, 2022
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — North Macedonia’s government said it’s imposing emergency measures in the country’s capital, Skopje, and three other cities in order to protect people from severely high levels of air pollution.
No sports events will be staged on Sunday or on any day with high air pollution levels, and other outdoor activities will be curtailed. Starting Monday, construction work will be limited to a six-hour period, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The government has recommended companies excuse pregnant women and people over age 60 from work.
The government also said it would reduce the use of its official vehicles by half, and ordered the health and welfare ministries to provide shelter for homeless people and boost emergency services and home visits to people with chronic illnesses.
The measures were announced Saturday after days of lobbying by environmental groups asking the government to take action. The new rules coincided with an announcement by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, ranking North Macedonia’s capital as the third-most polluted city in the world for Saturday after Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek and Lahore, Pakistan. The levels of toxic PM10 and PM 2.5 particles in the air measured by IQAir in Skopje were about 28 times higher than the safety threshold established by the World Health Organization.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-pollution-northmacedonia-skopje-climate-and-environment-0f30cc9fb82d0a2cb2ce336b24e3ee05
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