Jinju-si to Promote 24 Projects in 3 Areas Including Green New Deal Initiatives

588 Billion KRW Invested in Fine Dust Reduction Policies
413 Billion KRW Secured from National and Provincial Budgets, Four Times Increase from Last Year, Largest Scale Ever

Jinju City Hall Exterior View (Photo by Jinju City)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Jinju City, Gyeongnam Province announced on the 20th that it will invest 58.8 billion KRW in 24 project areas in 2021 to reduce and respond to fine dust.

This is more than four times the amount compared to last year, marking the highest level ever, and the city secured 32.3 billion KRW in national funds and 9 billion KRW in provincial funds this year.

The city will promote various projects in three sectors: transportation, household and business sites, and citizen health management.

In the transportation sector, 54.5 billion KRW has been allocated to 13 detailed projects.

In particular, 37.3 billion KRW, accounting for 70% of the transportation sector budget, will be heavily invested in the Green Mobility project, a core part of the government's Green New Deal initiative.

The Green Mobility project involves the distribution of zero-emission eco-friendly electric and hydrogen vehicles.

This year, Jinju City plans to distribute 2,046 electric vehicles, more than four times the 472 vehicles distributed over the past three years.

Hydrogen vehicles, distributed alongside electric vehicles, are planned to be supplied at 150 units in line with the completion of hydrogen charging stations.

For the household and business site sector, 2 billion KRW will be invested to support the installation costs of air pollution prevention facilities in small-scale business sites.

Funds have been prepared to provide subsidies for replacing household boilers with eco-friendly low-NOx boilers for 2,128 households.

A city official stated, "Fine dust, which has been increasing every year, has already become a social problem threatening citizens' health. To protect citizens' health, we will actively discover and promote fine dust reduction policies," adding, "We hope citizens will actively participate in the fine dust reduction projects promoted by the city."

Meanwhile, the city expects that through such subsidy projects, it will reduce the economic burden on businesses aiming to reduce fine dust, thereby establishing a foundation for active participation in efforts to reduce fine dust.