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Low Mei Mei Channel NewsAsia 11 Jun 11;
SINGAPORE: The Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) will appoint a panel of local and overseas experts to conduct an in-depth review of all flood protection measures that will be implemented in Singapore over the next decade.
The panel will be appointed within the next two weeks.
It will assess the current drainage infrastructure, topography of flood prone areas, projected weather patterns, current and future building plans, information systems as well as potential new technological solutions.
The review process will take six months.
MEWR will also be publishing for public consultation the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Drainage Review Committee consisting of members from the PUB and various government agencies, and also those of external panellists from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and overseas consultants.
These recommendations include enhancing drainage design standards to cope with more intense rain, requiring new developments to comply with higher platform and crest levels and requiring building managers to enhance flood protection measures.
In a joint statement released Saturday, MEWR and national water agency PUB said there are several immediate measures being undertaken.
The safety of the public remains a top priority.
Since June 2, PUB has begun a systematic review of all flood-prone areas.
To date, it has inspected about 70 locations and identified 30 locations which require enhanced safety measures.
MEWR and PUB said works are being carried out to ensure the public's safety is not compromised.
To date, 1.67km of safety railings have been installed at 14 locations.
The PUB will continue to monitor all flood prone locations and encourages the public to provide feedback to help identify potential danger spots.
Members of the public who have suggestions or feedback can reach the PUB through email at PUBOne@singnet.com.sg or through its hotline at 1800-284-6600.
PUB is also working with owners of vulnerable buildings to enhance flood protection at their premises and accelerating some of the current drainage improvement projects.
These include raising entrance crest levels and the installation of flood barriers.
PUB will open its SMS Alert on Water Levels service for public subscription by July 1.
Currently, the public can access information on the water levels of the canals at PUB's website.
Such alerts will also be posted on PUB's Facebook page and Twitter site with immediate effect.
The National Environment Agency will also make available online Singapore's rainfall data, so that the public will be able to access the information easily for their reference.
PUB will accelerate higher priority drainage improvement projects.
These include an ongoing drainage project to raise a depressed portion of Tomlinson Road by next week.
A drainage improvement project is ongoing at Bukit Timah Canal, affecting the stretch from Maple Avenue to Jalan Kampong Chantek.
PUB is accelerating works to increase the canal capacity by widening and deepening the existing canal.
This will be completed by October 2011, while the whole project will be completed by December 2012.
Works to improve drainage at Mandalay Road will start in August 2011 and will be completed by December 2011.
This will widen and deepen the drain and raise the stretch of Mandalay Road.
These works will be completed by December 2011.
In the MacPherson area, PUB is constructing an outlet drain near Lorong Bakar Batu Road by September 2011.
PUB will also bring forward a project to deepen and widen several roadside drains in Sennett Estate.
Other major drainage improvement works include the Alexandra Canal, to provide flood alleviation at Lower Delta and Alexandra Road junction area, as well as Geylang River to provide flood alleviation in the area near AZ Building and Certis Cisco Centre.
Improvement works for the Rochor Canal, to protect parts of Little India, have also been scheduled for later this year.
An open section of a drain along Grange Road will be covered to prevent stormwater from overflowing.
PUB will also study the possibility of raising Grange Road to provide additional flood protection.
The ministry said it is committed to finding long-term solutions to solve the flooding problem in Singapore.
-CNA/wk
Local, overseas experts to review flood protection
Straits Times 11 Jun 11;
THE Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (Mewr) said on Saturday that it will appoint a panel of local and overseas experts to conduct an in-depth review of all flood protection measures that will be implemented in Singapore over the next decade.
In a joint statement with the national water agency PUB, it was stated that the panel will be appointed within the next two weeks. It will assess the current drainage infrastructure, topography of flood-prone areas, projected weather patterns, current and future building plans, information systems and potential new technological solutions. The review process will take six months.
After another wet morning on Saturday, heavy showers hit several areas of Singapore, with at least one driver abandoning his car along a flooded road in Mountbatten. It was another reminder of the task ahead after PUB said it is going to give the prime Orchard Road area special protection to guard against flooding. This means widening and deepening drains at the junction of Cuscaden and Tomlinson roads, possibly building a retention pond and even diverting water to other catchment areas.
PUB also clarified that last Sunday's flood that submerged parts of Tanglin Mall and St Regis Residences was not due to Stamford Canal overflowing - the cause of the flood in 2010 - but a smaller drain in Grange Road that had overflowed. It maintained that unusual rainfall intensity was the reason the drains and canals were overwhelmed on both occasions. There were no floods in Orchard Road for 25 years prior to last year, PUB added.
Mewr will also publish for public consultation, the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Drainage Review Committee consisting of members from the PUB and various Government agencies, and also those from NUS, NTU and overseas consultants.
The safety of the public remains top priority. Since June 2, PUB has inspected about 70 locations and identified 30 locations which require enhanced safety measures. Works are being carried out to ensure that the public's safety is not compromised. To date, 1.67km of safety railings have been installed at 14 locations.
The Environment and Water Resources Minister says:
'I am grateful to everyone who has responded with many fascinating ideas and proposals for enhancing flood protection in Singapore over the past week. I believe that Singaporeans expect and deserve better flood protection. However, we must proceed in a proactive, careful and comprehensive way based on best available scientific evidence. We must also take advantage of innovative new technology and engineering solutions.' - Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on his Facebook page posting on Saturday.
Public feedback to PUB:
Email at PUBOne@singnet.com.sg or through the hotline at 1800-284-6600.
Keeping the public informed:
PUB will open its SMS Alert on Water Levels service by July 1, 2011. Currently, the public can access information on the water levels of the canals at PUB's website (www.pub.gov.sg/managingflashfloods). Such alerts will also be posted on PUB's Facebook (www.facebook.com/PUBsg) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/pubsingapore) with immediate effect.
The National Environment Agency will also make available online Singapore's rainfall data.
PUB to speed up improvement works
Tan Dawn Wei Straits Times 12 Jun 11;
While a panel of experts convenes to review existing flood-protection measures, national water agency PUB says it will take immediate action on a few fronts and speed up improvement works.
In a joint statement with the Environment Ministry issued yesterday, it singled out public safety as its top priority. It has inspected about 70 locations since June 2 - a day after an Indonesian student fell into an overflowing drain in Balestier during a heavy thunderstorm and died - and identified 30 that need safety enhancements.
These include places in Commonwealth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, Marsiling Drive, Jalan Taman and Paya Lebar Road. So far, it has installed 1.67km of safety railings in 14 locations. It is also working with owners of buildings that are vulnerable to floods to protect the premises, for example by raising crest levels at the entrances and installing flood barriers.
From July 1, members of the public can subscribe to PUB's SMS alert on the water levels of canals. It will also post such updates on its Facebook and Twitter pages.
The PUB will speed up its drainage and road improvement projects, which are of higher priority. By next week, it will finish raising a depressed portion of Tomlinson Road, originally slated to be done by the end of this month.
Works to widen and deepen a drain and raise the road at Mandalay Road will also start a month earlier, in August. These works will be completed by December.
The PUB is also ramping up works to widen and deepen the Bukit Timah Canal, which will be completed by December next year, constructing an outlet drain near Lorong Bakar Batu by September this year and bringing forward a project to deepen and widen several roadside drains in Sennett Estate.
In the statement, the Environment Ministry said the various agencies are 'committed to finding long-term solutions to solve the flooding problem in Singapore'.
It encourages the public to provide feedback on potential danger spots. Anyone with suggestions can send an e-mail to the PUB at PUBOne@singnet.com.sg or call its hotline on 1800-284-6600.
New panel to fight floods
Team will be set up to review existing measures and come up with new ideas
Tan Dawn Wei Straits Times 12 Jun 11;
One week after intense rainfall caused the worst flooding seen this year, new Environment Minister Vivian Balakrishnan is appointing a panel of local and overseas experts to take a comprehensive look at flood protection.
The panel, to be established within the next two weeks, will study a wide range of issues: the drainage infrastructure, topography of flood-prone areas, projected weather patterns, current and future building plans as well as information systems and potential new technological solutions.
The review will take six months and the panel will have between four and eight experts.
Dr Balakrishnan said on his blog (vivian.balakrishnan.sg) yesterday that he is grateful to people who have given him 'many fascinating ideas and proposals for enhancing flood protection in Singapore over the past week'.
He added: 'I believe that Singaporeans expect and deserve better flood protection. However, we must proceed in a proactive, careful and comprehensive way based on best available scientific evidence.'
The authorities must also take advantage of innovative new technology and engineering solutions, he said.
Intense rainfall last Sunday submerged parts of eastern and central Singapore, including the Tanglin- Cuscaden area near Orchard Road. Water from an overflowing Grange Road drain went into the basements of Tanglin Mall and St Regis Residences.
Meanwhile, the new panel will review measures that have been planned for the next 10 years, and suggest new ones.
Among other things, it will be looking at the recommendations of an inter-governmental agency drainage review committee set up after last year's dramatic Orchard Road flood, when water spilled into shops and malls, reaching waist- high levels in some places and causing damage estimated at $8 million.
An independent panel of four experts, comprising civil engineering academics and an engineering consultant, had validated these measures.
The committee had recommended improving drainage design standards to cope with more intense rain; requiring new developments to have higher platform and crest levels and building managers to have better flood protection measures.
The Environment Ministry will be publishing these recommendations for public consultation.
Mr Cedric Foo, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development and Environment, said that given the intense speculation about what caused the recent floods, the panel's first task should be 'to get to the root of the problem'.
'They should then question if our planning parameters need to be revised,' he added. 'And if so, a cost-benefit analysis should be done to determine how much tax dollars should be invested.'
Mr Steven Goh, executive director of the Orchard Road Business Association, welcomed the setting up of the panel.
'I think it shows there's an urgency to review the whole drainage network in Singapore and in particular in the Orchard area.'
But he added that he hoped the new panel could include members of the business sector, as well as building management, 'not just academics and engineers'.
One thing the panel should look at is the flood level for building designs, said Associate Professor Susanto Teng from Nanyang Technological University's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
'The buildings here are strong enough to withstand the floods, but the only problem is that the ground floors must be raised to cope with the rising flood levels,' he said.
Madam Michelle Goh, 53, owner of jewellery shop SuLin Serio at Tanglin Mall, which was flooded last Sunday, said: 'Whatever the panel comes up with, I hope they can do it quickly. The most important thing now is to prevent another flooding.'
Additional reporting by Feng Zengkun and Cheryl Ong
Panel to review flood measures
Saifulbahri Ismail Today Online 12 Jun 11;
SINGAPORE - A panel of local and overseas experts will be appointed to conduct an in-depth review of all flood protection measures to be implemented in Singapore over the next decade.
The panel, which will be formed in the next two weeks, will assess the current drainage infrastructure, topography of flood-prone areas, projected weather patterns, current and future building plans, information systems and potential new technological solutions. The review will take six months.
The Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) will also publish and seek feedback on the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Drainage Review Committee, which comprises representatives from the PUB, other government agencies, university academics and foreign consultants.
These recommendations include enhancing drainage design standards to cope with more intense rain; requiring new developments to comply with higher platform and crest levels; and requiring building managers to enhance flood protection measures.
Yesterday, heavy rains fell again in the morning in several areas, with netizens reporting, for instance, that one man had to abandon his car in Mountbatten after it stalled in floodwaters.
The safety of the public remains a top priority, the MEWR and PUB said in a joint statement yesterday. Since June 2, PUB has to date inspected some 70 flood-prone locations and identified 30 that require enhanced safety measures.
To ensure the public's safety is not compromised, so far, 1.67km of safety railings have been installed at 14 locations. Members of the public who have suggestions or feedback on danger spots can email PUBOne@singnet.com.sg or call the PUB hotline at 1800 284 6600.
By July 1, the public will also be able to subscribe to the agency's SMS Alert on Water Levels service. Information on canal water levels can now be accessed at PUB's website, Facebook page and Twitter site.
In addition, PUB will accelerate higher-priority drainage improvement projects, such as at Tomlinson Road, Mandalay Road, Sennett Estate and a stretch of the Bukit Timah Canal. The agency will also study the possibility of raising Grange Road, among other things.
Writing in his blog, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said he was grateful to everyone who responded with "fascinating ideas and proposals for enhancing flood protection" over the past week. "We are dealing with Nature, and Man needs to be humble when addressing the challenges that Nature poses. There will always be uncertainty and, sometimes, despite our best efforts, we cannot win," he said.
"We will be open and transparent. We will share as much data in real time as possible so that solutions and precautions can be devised for the immediate and long term."
Dr Balakrishnan added: "A resident posted on the Holland-Bukit Timah Facebook wall that 'It is nothing too difficult to solve'. I'm afraid it is actually quite difficult to solve. Therefore I cannot guarantee outcomes."
Grace Chua Straits Times 11 Jun 11;
NATIONAL water agency PUB is going to give the prime Orchard Road area special protection to guard against flooding.
This means widening and deepening drains at the junction of Cuscaden and Tomlinson roads, possibly building a retention pond and even diverting water to other catchment areas.
But the various ideas tossed up to keep Orchard Road flood-free may prove costly, and that is something PUB must weigh.
Mr Tan Nguan Sen, PUB's director of catchment and waterways, told The Straits Times that the drains there - planned to meet the needs of a fully built-up Orchard Road - were operating at close to full capacity, given all the development in the shopping belt.
'Even though retention ponds and all that may work, we have to weigh the costs and benefits. Is it justifiable to spend those millions of dollars just to give the added protection?' he said.
Earlier, the idea of retention ponds had been floated by PUB and other experts as one way to catch some of the peak rainwater flows. Another suggestion was to construct a diversion canal to the Singapore River.
The cost of damage from flooding on Sunday and last year has not yet been tallied, but it was previously reported that property and vehicle damage claims from floods last June were estimated at about $8 million.
Since then, the agency has spent $26 million raising a 1.4km stretch of Orchard Road from Orange Grove Road to Cairnhill Road, to help alleviate flooding in the area.
If not for this exercise, Sunday's flood could have been worse, it said.
PUB also clarified that the flood that submerged parts of Tanglin Mall and St Regis Residences was not due to Stamford Canal overflowing - the cause of last year's flood - but a smaller drain in Grange Road that had overflowed.
It maintained that unusual rainfall intensity was the reason the drains and canals were overwhelmed on both occasions.
Besides expanding the capacity of the drains at the junction of Cuscaden and Tomlinson roads, it has built a wall in front of the Grange Road drain to prevent water from spilling out. By tomorrow, the drain will also be covered.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said Sunday morning's rain intensity - 65mm in 30 minutes - has not been recorded over this part of Singapore for the last 15 years. 'The rainfall in Singapore varies significantly from year to year,' an NEA spokesman added. 'Based on our long-term records, our analysis of the rainfall patterns in Singapore shows no significant trend in the annual rainfall.'
There were no floods in Orchard Road for 25 years prior to last year, PUB said.
Last June, the weather station at the TripleOne Somerset building recorded a peak rainfall intensity of 85mm in an hour.
Since 1995, there have been two occasions when the year's highest rainfall intensity per hour at that station was greater than that of last June: in November 2007 and September 2008.
PUB did not give its specific planning parameters for the Orchard Road area.
However, it said that drains were designed based on the premise that nearly all the surrounding area would eventually be built up, which increases surface run-off when it rains.
Asked if it could show that more buildings did not contribute to the flooding, Mr Tan pointed out that the catchment area upstream of Stamford Canal, which includes Dempsey Road and the Botanic Gardens, had not been built up significantly in recent years.
Mall builds walls to fight floods
Wayne Chan Channel NewsAsia 10 Jun 11;
SINGAPORE: At least one building affected by the recent Orchard Road floods has already taken concrete measures to keep the water out.
Tanglin Mall, which suffered extensive damage during last Sunday's floods, is not taking any chances.
One day after the floods, the mall started building brick and concrete walls on its premises to protect key areas that contain important installations like electrical and telephone lines.
About 70 such walls - starting from the first level, going down to its four levels of basement - will be up by Saturday.
The walls are meant to stop the flow of water into the basement carpark during a flood. When the water reaches toe-level, sandbags will be laid out to further stem the flow.
Another way to keep the water out is to build humps, a recommendation made by the PUB. But an expert said these may not suit buildings along Orchard Road.
NTU Associate Professor Tan Soon Keat said: "(The humps) may not match the landscaping or the architectural outlook of the buildings....but (they can serve) as a quick measure to keep the water out of the buildings, particularly if the potential of flooding is imminent."
And if humps are to be built, they must be low enough for cars to drive over them.
He said the humps should be between 0.2 metre and 0.3 metre for cars to "comfortably" drive over, said Associate Professor Tan, who is from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) School of Civil & Environmental Engineering.
Even then, he added, the humps may not be able to keep severe floods out.
"But at least it can buy some time for people to know that water is building up," he said.
-CNA/ir
Tanglin Mall readies for future floods
Wayne Chan Today Online 11 Jun 11;
SINGAPORE - They may hope for a green space and an underground water storage tank in Orchard to prevent floods like the one that washed in on Sunday, but for now, the management of one of the buildings badly hit by the flood is going ahead with a few measures of its own.
Cuscaden Properties, which owns and manages Tanglin Mall, has begun building brick and concrete walls to stop water from flowing into car park entrances and key areas containing electrical and telephone lines, even before PUB officers have come in to advise them on how to do so.
The work to build nearly 70 walls with a height of 60cm and 86cm, from the ground floor down to four basement levels, should finish by today. Sandbags have also been filled and will be deployed the next time it floods.
The mall's management had swung into action on Monday, said Tanglin Mall centre director Jenny Ng, 56, because "the weather is unpredictable and worse storms had been forecast".
She added, "Our intention was to first protect our mechanical, electrical and other critical equipment."
Other solutions that were discussed when PUB met the Orchard Road Business Association on Thursday included raised crests and road humps for the buildings affected by the recent flood. But these humps must not be too high - between 0.2m and 0.3m - so that a car can "comfortably" go over them, an expert told MediaCorp yesterday.
Even so, the humps may not be able to keep severe floods out, noted Associate Professor Tan Soon Keat.
"But at least it can buy some time for people to know that water is building up," he said.
Roads leading to lower ground may need higher humps and this may affect the overall look of their properties in Orchard Road, said Assoc Prof Tan, who is from the Nanyang Technological University's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
"These immediate measures may not match the landscaping or the architectural outlook of the building for the time being but as a quick measure to keep water out of the building, particularly if the potential of flooding is imminent, then I think this is a quick way," he said.
As for the underground water storage tank suggested by ORBA, PUB had said on Thursday it would study the proposal.
Meanwhile, PUB said it has installed about 1,600m of railings at 14 locations as of yesterday, following the death of a teenager last week who drowned after falling into a drain swollen with rainwater during a heavy downpour.
PUB to study underground tank proposal to curb flooding in Orchard
Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid Today Online 10 Jun 11;
SINGAPORE - National water agency PUB said yesterday it will study the Orchard Road Business Association's (ORBA) proposal of an underground tank to prevent floods hitting the shopping belt.
But as an immediate step, it will work with affected building owners to boost their flood prevention measures.
The meeting between PUB and the association yesterday took place at Traders Hotel, which is located in an area near Orchard Road, which was affected by the floods last Sunday.
MediaCorp was not allowed to film the session but it is understood that about 50 people including representatives from the PUB, the Singapore Tourism Board and the affected shopping malls turned up for the meeting.
The ORBA has said that it was disappointed with the PUB and wants long-term solutions to tackle the flooding.
The PUB described the meeting as "very useful" and that many ideas were exchanged during the session.
The agency is studying the idea of building a diversion canal from Stamford Canal to ease flood woes along the shopping belt.
The ORBA's proposal for an empty plot of land in the precinct to be used as a green space - with an underground tank to hold excess rainwater, was also discussed, and the PUB will be looking into suggestions to place water "holding tanks" in the basements of buildings.
Said PUB's director of its 3P Network Department, Mr George Madhavan: "We have been thinking of using retention ponds so it's an idea that we will take back and study very carefully. Basically, we want to find an optimal solution to improving flood protection on Orchard Road."
For now, PUB will lend its expertise to six building owners including Tanglin Mall and St Regis Residences, which were badly hit by Sunday's floods, to build "crests" - road humps that will prevent water from flowing into carparks.
The PUB said a suggestion by the ORBA to build a green space like New York's Bryant Park is also a good idea.
If approved, the space will have an underground water tank that absorbs and stores excess water while doubling up as a venue for outdoor events.
The proposed site is a 20,000 sq m piece of state land behind Ngee Ann City.
The ORBA said that the meeting was cordial and that the PUB was forthcoming in its explanations, but a lot of questions could not be answered, as they concerned long-term issues.
"We still want to know what is PUB's long term plan to address the flood problem because it seems like no one can guarantee that the flood will not happen again," said the ORBA executive director Steven Goh.
The ORBA will continue to pursue its proposals. "Perhaps it is beyond PUB and their issue involves planning, involves land issue and so on and so forth.
"So I think it is a multi-agency effort and as the ORBA we will work with the Singapore Tourism Board as our key partner to address some of our wish list and wants with them," said Mr Goh.
Recent floods prompt Liat Towers to install second set of floodgates
Sara Grosse and Liang Kaixin Today Online 14 Jun 11;
SINGAPORE - The management of Liat Towers plans to install another set of floodgates as the first set installed after last year's floods did not spare the building in Orchard Road during the recent downpour on June 5.
About 100mm of rainwater flowed into its basement stores.
A video taken by the contractor in charge of the flood barriers that morning showed that while the floodgates did work, the water flowed in through a gap between the barriers and the shops.
Liat Towers now plans to install six floodgates outside its basement stores at a total cost of about S$60,000.
Other buildings in Orchard, including Tanglin Mall, Orchard Towers, Lucky Plaza, The Regent and Palais Renaissance, are in talks with the contractor, Parafoil Design and Engineering, to see if they need floodgates as well, which will take about four to six weeks to complete.
Mr Jwee Quek, the product manager of Parafoil Design and Engineering, also suggested that the Public Utilities Board (PUB) address the problem of drainage outside Liat Towers, which he said is too small and easily blocked by leaves.
Hence, drains at the stairway were not able to drain the water fast enough, he explained. SARA GROSSE AND LIANG KAIXIN
Yahoo News 10 Jun 11;
JAKARTA (AFP) – Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) said that it welcomed an investigation by US toy maker Mattel into allegations that it destroys Indonesian forests to source its products.
Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls and other toys, uses packaging materials from APP and announced Thursday it had told its suppliers "to stop sourcing pulp" from the company and would investigate allegations made by Greenpeace.
"It's a very good reaction from Mattel," APP managing director for sustainability Aida Greenbury told AFP on Friday. "Instead of bluntly believing the allegation from other party, they start an investigation."
Greenpeace alleged on Wednesday that the toy company used materials sourced from Indonesia's dwindling natural forests, further pushing rare species such as tigers to the brink of extinction.
Greenbury said APP materials were environmentally friendly and the company was willing to work with anyone to prove the origins and composition of its products.
Mattel said it does not support deforestation nor does it contract directly with APP, a subsidiary of paper and palm oil giant Sinar Mas.
"We purchase packaging materials from a variety of suppliers and it is not the normal course of business to dictate where suppliers source materials," Mattel said in a statement published on its website.
"We have directed our packaging suppliers to stop sourcing pulp from Sinar Mas/APP as we investigate the deforestation allegations. Additionally, we have asked our packaging suppliers to clarify how they are addressing the broader issue in their own supply chains," it said.
Greenpeace's campaign against Mattel follows similar action against firms including Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco in the wake of a report released last year titled "How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet".
Unilever, Kraft and Nestle have stopped sourcing palm oil from Sinar Mas affiliates, while Carrefour, Staples, Office Depot and Woolworths (Australia) had stopped buying or selling paper products connected to APP.
Several other companies are believed to be reviewing contracts with APP.
P. Aruna The Star 10 Jun 11;
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians can afford to eat less because they are either overeating or wasting food, throwing away up to 930 tonnes of unconsumed food daily, say experts.
This is equivalent to us throwing away 93,000 10kg bags of rice each day.
The experts warn that people must change or adapt their eating habits in the light of rising prices and a looming food shortage, adding that the country was already experiencing a food crisis.
Universiti Malaya Prof Dr P. Agamuthu said wastage was a growing trend, adding that almost 50% of the 31,000 tonnes of waste produced daily by Malaysians comprised organic kitchen waste such as leftover food.
“Malaysians discard about 930 tonnes of unconsumed food daily. Wastage of unconsumed food alone in Malaysia has doubled over the past three years. This does not even include leftover food,” he said, adding that the unconsumed food mostly consisted of expired bread, eggs and old or rotten fruit.
Dr Agamuthu, who specialises in solid and hazardous waste management, said Malaysia was close to a developed country status in the amount of waste generated as compared to developing nations like India and Bangladesh, which had almost zero unconsumed food.
He said food wastage was higher in urban areas due to the difference in income levels with rural areas.
Nutrition Society of Malaysia president Dr Tee Ee Siong said many Malaysians tended to overeat, usually taking more food than they should.
He said it was a common sight to see Malaysians pile too much food on their plates, especially during meals at restaurants and buffets.
“It could be because they don't want the hassle of going back for a second helping or they are worried that the food would finish before they return.
“When we have too much food on our plates, we tend to overeat,” he said, adding that overeating was also the main reason for obesity among Malaysians.
According to Health Ministry statistics, 30% of Malaysians are obese while another 30% are overweight. Dr Tee said those preparing food in households should be more accurate in their estimations on how much they needed to cook to avoid wastage.
“Parents need to be more sensitive about the wastage of food and teach their children by example.”
Marditech Corporation Sdn Bhd group CEO Anas Ahmad Nasarudin said non-alcoholic foodstuff had registered an average of 4.7% increase in prices from last year.
He said an investigation by the body showed that the price of meat had increased by 7.6%, milk and eggs by 7.9%, vegetables by 11.4%, jam and sweetened products by 10.9%, fruits by 6.8% and fish by 3.8%.
Marditech consultant Ahmad Zamzam Mohamed said the country was already in a food crisis and Malaysians would have to change their eating habits to lessen its impact.
“The Government has been shielding Malaysians from the real impact of the crisis with various subsidies,” he said, adding that they would soon face the reality as these were being slowly removed.
“We should learn to eat accordingly and not over-indulge,” he said during a press conference on the 7th Malaysia International Agro-Bio Business Conference here yesterday.
The two-day conference, which will gather experts to discuss the challenges of the emerging global food crisis, begins on July 13.
Katharine Gammon LiveScience.com Yahoo News 10 Jun 11;
Four elephants tore down the streets of the Indian city of Mysore June 8, killing a man. According to news reports from India, they had become separated from their herd after villagers threw rocks at them.
One of those elephants ended up in city streets, where it trampled the man and killed several cows.
Elephants are generally regarded as gentle giants. Why would they become enraged to the point of killing?
"From the video, it looked to me like the elephants were young males who had been separated from their herd," Mike Keele, director of elephant habitats at the Oregon Zoo, told Life's Little Mysteries. "Young males can form these bachelor groups which are like little gangs."
Keele adds that humans can share the blame with the pachyderms: As elephants get squeezed into smaller and smaller spaces by humans, they will often wander into human places just for survival – looking for food and water. If the villagers tried to chase them from their fields, elephants easily could end up scared and desperate in the streets of a city.
When the elephants rampaged in Mysore, Keele says, they were probably just lashing out and trying to get away from perceived attacks, a sort of aggressive defensive tactic. "In a situation where an elephant is frightened and frantic, anything that moves is fair game. The elephant's thought process is: 'It moves and therefore it's a threat to me.'"
Stressed-out elephants
Other experts see a deeper level of traumatic injury in human/elephant conflicts. "Incidents like this show the extent to which elephants are being driven to madness by human violence," says Gay Bradshaw, an elephant behavior expert who wrote the book 'Elephants on the Edge' (Yale University Press, October, 2009). "That's scientifically documented, consistent with what we know from research in neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry."
Bradshaw says elephants are simply reacting as people would when under siege. People are shooting, spearing, poisoning the big animals: "From a psychologist's perspective, that's trauma. If you look at elephants and people, that's the same thing we see with people under siege and genocide."
Bradshaw likens the conflict between humans and elephants to colonialism, with the people taking over the elephants' indigenous culture, and with "elephants fighting to keep their culture and their society as they are pushed into smaller places and killed outright."
Part of the conflict is simply over resources. In Asia, there are between 35,000 and 50,000 elephants — and an enormous human population. By comparison, elephants in Africa number 600,000, and the human population is lower than in Asia.
Elephants need a large space to roam, with lots of vegetation and abundant water supplies to help them digest all that roughage. When those areas are taken up with human crops, elephants are happy to adjust to eating corn or other plants meant for people. Sometimes they become a bit too happy with human foods: They will enter villages and destroy huts or houses if they smell food, says Marshall Jones, senior conservation adviser at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
Jones has analyzed the number of fatalities in human/elephant conflict zones. He estimates that in India up to 300 people die from elephants per year, and as many as 200 elephants per year are killed in the conflict.
"It's actually amazing how tolerant people in Asia are towards elephants already," he said. "If there were an animal in the United States that was killing hundreds of people per year, it would be gone."
Still, these experts agree it's up to humans to promote harmony. One idea, according to Keele, is to put fences around human villages instead of around elephant areas: Confine the people, not the animals.
Bradshaw says people need to stop committing violent acts against elephants, take down roads and railroads that cause deaths, and create better elephant corridors with enough food and water so the animals don't need to wander into human areas.
"Humans are very plastic as a species," she says. "The only thing we lack is willpower."
Marlowe Hood Yahoo News 10 Jun 11;
PARIS (AFP) – By 2050, the coolest summers in the tropics and parts of the northern hemisphere will still be hotter than the most scorching summers since the mid-20th century if global warming continues apace, according to a new study.
Tropical regions in Africa, Asia and South America could see "the permanent emergence of unprecedented summer heat" even within the next decades, said the study, to be published later this month in the journal Climatic Change Letters.
Such dramatic changes in temperature would have a major impact on human health, food supplies and biodiversity, warn the researchers.
"Large areas of the globe are likely to warm up so quickly that, by the middle of this century, even the coolest summers will be hotter than the hottest summers of the past 50 years," said lead author Noah Diffenbaugh, a professor at Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment.
Scientists have long predicted that climate change driven by greenhouse gas emissions would cause more frequent heat waves, such as struck Europe in 2003, or the United States this week.
"That got us to thinking -- at what point can we expect the coolest seasonal temperatures to always be hotter than the historically highest temperatures for that season?" Diffenbaugh said in a statement.
To find out, he chose a basket of 50 climate models that accurately matched past increases and projected them into the future.
The analysis assumed a scenario of a "moderate" increase in heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions as forecast by the UN's panel of climate scientists.
Many regions of the globe, they found to their surprise, can anticipate a "new normal" of summers that today would be classified a heatwave within a matter of decades.
The researchers also analysed historical data from weather stations around the world to see if the projected increase in temperatures had already begun.
"This extreme heat emergence is occurring now, and climate models represent the historical pattern remarkably well," Diffenbaugh said.
Results differed somewhat from region to region, with the tropics being hit earliest and hardest.
In the model, up to 70 percent of summer seasons from 2010 to 2039 exceeded the late-20th century maximum in the zones straddling the Equator.
Wide swaths of North America, China and Mediterranean Europe are also likely to enter a new "heat regime" by 2070, the study found.
Recent heat waves and their consequences provide a foretaste of the ways in which hotter summers can disrupt lives, the researchers cautioned.
The likelihood of out-of-control fires such as raged across Australia and Russia in 2009 and 2010 increases dramatically with higher temperatures. Likewise loss of life: the 2003 heatwave in Europe killed some 40,000 people.
A recent report by a consortium of agriculture experts shows that projected increases could devastate staple food crops in tropical regions where hundreds of millions of people are already mired in subsistence-level poverty.
The pace of species loss is also projected to gather pace as persistently hotter climate kicks in.
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