RM9.09 juta indahkan sungai

KUALA LUMPUR 11 Sept. – Kementerian Sumber Asli dan Alam Sekitar memperuntukkan RM9.09 juta untuk mengindahkan sungai dan kawasan sekitar dalam Kempen Kesedaran Alam Sekitar dan Pemulihan Sungai.

Setiausaha Parlimennya, Datuk Sazmi Miah berkata, kementeriannya juga mengadakan kerjasama dengan Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran (JPS) dan Jabatan Alam Sekitar (JAS) dalam memperkasakan setiap kempen pencemaran terutamanya pencegahan dan pemulihan.

“Penguatkuasaan ditekankan terutama dalam memantau pencemaran lembangan sungai untuk memastikan tiada sumber air utama yang tercemar.

“Kementerian juga mengambil pendekatan bersepadu melalui pelbagai agensi dengan menetapkan garis panduan, rujukan dan undang-undang supaya kawasan tadahan ini dapat diurus dengan baik,” katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian semasa menjawab soalan asal Datuk Hasan Malek (BN-Kuala Pilah) yang meminta kementerian mengemukakan langkah dan cadangan masa depan untuk memastikan sumber air tidak tercemar pada persidangan Dewan Rakyat hari ini.

Menurutnya, dalam aspek pemulihan sungai, pihak kementerian juga menjalankan pelbagai aktiviti dan projek pemulihan sungai-sungai yang telah dicemari.

“Program-program yang telah dijalankan oleh kementerian ialah pembinaan perangkap sampah dan perangkap keladak.

“Kawalan kumbahan dan sisa pepejal dilakukan dengan pemasangan Sistem Penapis Sisa Makanan (FOG) untuk semua premis makanan dalam kawasan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan (PBT),” katanya.

Sazmi memberitahu, kementerian juga menjalankan kerja-kerja pemuliharaan sungai untuk mengembalikan ekosistem sungai.

Menjawab soalan tambahan Datuk Markiman Kobiran (BN-Hulu Langat) tentang kedudukan kilang haram dan rumah setinggan yang terletak di tebing sungai sekali gus menyumbang kepada pencemarannya, Sazmi mengakui hubungan kementeriannya masih longgar dengan majlis perbandaran negeri.

“Satu koordinasi akan dibuat untuk memastikan kerjasama dapat dibentuk daripada semua pihak dan masalah ini dapat diselesaikan dengan segera,” ujarnya

Monkey export ban lifted

Saturday August 18, 2007

PUTRAJAYA: Monkeys can now be caught and exported and the authorities claim it is to please urban folk who have been complaining that the animals have been creating problems for them.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said the Cabinet, at its meeting on June 27, agreed to lift the ban to export monkeys found in urban areas as the public had complained of having foodstuff stolen and being attacked by the animals.

However, he gave an assurance that there would not be “total elimination” of the long-tailed macaque from city areas and they would still be allowed to roam around as long as the numbers were “ideal.”

Azmi said the human-monkey contact became more frequent after the animal’s natural habitat was cleared to make way for development, including creating new residential areas.

He said a solution to the “confrontation” had to be sought.

“I realise we will be getting a lot of heat from other countries and even non-governmental organisations but this solution is necessary after other efforts have failed. We have tried transporting them to other areas as well as sterilising them but monkeys breed too quickly.

“Our main concern now is to ensure that only experts are allowed to catch the monkeys because we do not want them to be put under stress, abused or tortured. The other important point is that only monkeys found in cities can be caught and not those in their natural habitat,” he told a press conference yesterday.

According to the Wildlife Department’s statistics, there are 742,000 long-tailed macaques in the country, of which 258,000 are found in city areas, including Kuala Lumpur.

The Government, in 1984, had imposed a ban on the export of long-tailed macaques following a reduction in the monkey population and the ban stayed for 23 years until last month.

“I must stress that the long-tailed macaque is not a threatened species in Malaysia,'' Azmi said.

Illegal waste-dumping by approved collectors

Friday August 17, 2007
By DHARMENDER SINGH

KAPAR: Week-long surveillance by the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) has found garbage collection contractors from at least three local authorities dumping waste illegally at a plot of land in Kampung Bukit Kapar here.

Selangor Environment Committee chairman Datuk Ch’ng Toh Eng said enforcement officers from MPK had photographs of the lorries belonging to contractors from Klang, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam councils.

“All the councils responsible have been told to check the registration numbers of the lorries photographed to identify the contractors involved and we will terminate their contracts immediately,” he told reporters after visiting the illegal dump together with officials from MPK and the Department Of Environment (DOE) on Friday.

He also sounded a warning to contractors that the state government would not tolerate any breach of contract, especially when it involved illegal dumping, and would take strict action against errant contractors.

Ch’ng said in the Kampung Bukit Kapar case, the contractor would face action for illegal dumping while the landowner would face action for flouting environment laws.

“We are also investigating to find out if there are people `managing’ this illegal dump and if so we will also take action against them,” he said.

He said surveillance at the illegal dump was carried out following complaints from nearby villagers over the illegal dumping and the foul smell emitted from the area.

He said the illegal activities had been carried out for the last two months and some of the waste had also been set on fire.

Ch’ng added that the contractors were supposed to send the waste to the dumpsite in Jeram, located about 10km from Kapar, but chose to take the easy way out by dumping at the illegal site