Green+ Malaysia's Premier Eco-friendly, Sustainable and Green Business Magazine

ENVIRONMENT
stronger enforcement in the future,”
added Palanivel.
In 2013, there were 275 (58%) rivers
classified as clean, 173 (36%) slightly
polluted and 29 (6%) as polluted based
on river Water Quality Index. The
percentage of clean rivers has slightly
decreased by 0.6% compared to previous
year. The same trend also has been
recorded in the number of polluted
rivers which has decreased by 1.9%.
ENHANCING MARINE
WATER QUALITY
The Minister said Malaysia implemented
various strategies in order to enhance
the marine water quality status for
beneficial uses in particular to recreation,
fishing and marine parks. Efforts
undertaken by the Department of
Environment Malaysia (DOE) to curb the
pollution namely from shipping activities,
oil and gas exploration, marine
installation and ports activities include:
i. Enforcement via Environmental
Quality Act, 1974 and Exclusive
Economic Zone Act, 1984 to ensure
effective control of sources of marine
pollution and illegal discharges;
ii. Implementation of National Marine
Water Quality Monitoring program
that consists of 321 monitoring
stations that was established at
estuaries (76), islands (90) and
coastal areas (155). Based on the
marine water quality monitoring
data in 2013, 30 stations were
categorized as poor, 229 stations
categorized as moderate, 56 stations
categorized as good and 6 stations
were categorized as excellent.
iii. Established the sustainable development
through conservation of
resources via Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA);
iv. Promotion of environmental education
and awareness through forums,
joint programs and seminars such
as National Oil Spill Combat Exercise
that engaged other relevant government
agencies, port and platform
operators as well as industries;
v. Inter-Agency and Federal-State
Cooperation via joint enforcement;
vi. Strengthening the bilateral, regional
and international cooperation
between littoral states and ASEAN
countries; and
vii. Implementation of National Oil Spill
Combat Plan (NOSCP) during oil spill
incidence in Malaysian waters.
ENHANCING AIR QUALITY
As an enforcement agency, the DOE
had been enforcing the Environmental
Quality Act 1974, to control emissions
from various sources such as industries
National Park,
Pahang.
and motor vehicles with the view that
Malaysians will enjoy a cleaner, safer
environment and at the same time have
a better quality of life.
“In addition, the Clean Air Action
Plan (CAAP) was drawn up in line
with the ‘7th Green Strategy’ in the
National Policy on the Environment.
The CAAP presents a set of strategies
and indicators that together provide a
roadmap to achieve better air quality
by reducing the frequency, severity and
duration of poor air quality episodes,”
said Palanivel.
Referring to the recent transboundary
haze, Palanivel said Malaysia has
urged Indonesia to immediately extinguish
land and forest fires in Sumatra
that are causing the haze in the country.
The urge was extended to Indonesia in a
letter by Department of Environment’s
Director-General to her Indonesian
counterpart recently. The letter
expressed Malaysia’s concern with the
We may not guarantee that
the haze will not return, but
Malaysia is hopeful that nations
affected by the haze would
be able to find a joint solution
in the spirit of ASEAN and
continuously take preventive
measures to prevent land and
forest fires and the recurrence of
transboundary haze.
increase of hotspots which cause haze
intermittently in the country since June
2014. The southwest monsoon played
a major role in bringing the haze to
Malaysia and this was expected to continue
until middle of September 2014.
“As transboundary haze pollution
remained a major and persistent challenge
to ASEAN region, we must not
quit from finding concrete solutions and
retain our momentum in tackling this
perennial problem. ASEAN member
nations must acutely implement the
action plan at ground for the initiative
to witness tangible outcomes.
“We may not guarantee that the
haze will not return, but Malaysia
is hopeful that nations affected by
the haze would be able to find a joint
solution in the spirit of ASEAN and
continuously take preventive measures
to prevent land and forest fires and the
recurrence of transboundary haze,”
said Palanivel
At national level, Malaysia will continue
to take all necessary mitigating
measures to prevent haze resulting
from local sources such as open burning,
emissions from motor vehicles and
industries and earth works activities.
Malaysia has also prepared a plan of
actions to face with a likelihood of
El Nino developing in the second half
of 2014. The plan of actions includes:
multi-agency intervention in curbing
open burning and land and forest fires;
intensifying law enforcement against
offenders; and strengthening our
national preparedness and firefighting
capabilities.
“In addition, we had reviewed our
National Haze Action Plan and the
14
november-december, green+.2014