Having suffered from dust and sandstorms for years, northeast Asia countries are joining hands to propose a master plan in sandstorm control and prevention by the end of 2004.

Since 2002, the four northeast Asia countries, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Mongolia have worked together withfour international organizations, namely Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) andUnited Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), to initiate a project combating dust and sandstorms in northeast Asiacountries comprehensively.

"Due to the severity of sandstorms in this region, it is impossible for an individual country to handle the problem. Prevention of sandstorms such as regional monitoring and early warning must be conducted through cooperation," said Mohammad Aslam Khan, chief of Environmental Section of ESCAP, who is participating in the ESCAP 60th Session opened here on April 22.

Khan said as one of the coordinators of the project, ESCAP has sent a group of experts from China and Mongolia to conduct a demonstration program, the findings of which will be submitted as part of the master plan, therefore to acquire financial support from the international organizations and to implement the plan finally.

UN statistics show that the most severe sandstorm in decades took place in April 2002. It swept across Mongolia and hit 18 provincial localities in China, the Korean Peninsula, and a large area of Japan. It was so severe that Mongolia had to close its international airport in Ulanbator for three days, and the Republic of Korea had to close primary schools and cancel more than 40 flights departing from Kimpo Airport in Seoul.

In the same year, the four northeast Asia countries and the four international organizations held a conference to discuss the solutions to the problem. As a result, the ADB, the Japan Special Fund and the Global Environment Fund together have contributed 100,000 US dollars to conduct the sandstorm control work in the region.

In 2003, representatives from China, Japan, ROK, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Mongolia met in Beijing, in which participants agreed that sandstorms were not only caused by natural reasons, over exploration and herding by people should take the main blame.

"The cooperation in dust and sandstorm monitoring and early warning are of high importance, for instance, Japan and ROK can provide technical supports to China and Mongolia, which can provide timely information to Japan and ROK in return," said Yang Youlin, an official with the UNCCD.

Source: Xinhua