macaque mama, baby and some cake @ SBWR - Feb 2015
from sgbeachbum
On the MacRitchie Nature Trail – An Escape to Tranquillity
from SAys! Happy Mums
"Love from Singapore" – sterilising feral dogs in Nepal protects wildlife, livelihoods and stops the culling: Debby Ng speaks about the Himalayan Mutt Project @ NUS LT34 on Wed 11 Feb 2015, 7.00pm
from Habitatnews
FENG ZENGKUN Straits Times 10 Feb 15;
An in-depth study to figure out the cause of littering, getting young students to try being cleaners for a day and heavier penalties are among the suggestions made to stop Singapore from becoming a "garbage city".
Academics, civil society members and Singapore residents whom The Straits Times spoke to also have their own take on why the problem persists and what needs to be done to solve it.
Aside from the often-cited reasons such as complacency fostered by an army of cleaners, a "don't care" attitude and growing up pampered, some suggest that different cultural attitudes among some of Singapore's new citizens and foreign workers, and a reluctance to truly shame culprits, could also be behind the country's litter woes.
Last year, the National Environment Agency (NEA) issued about 19,000 tickets for littering -almost double the number in 2013. Thirty-one per cent of these tickets were issued to non-residents.
There were also 688 instances of Corrective Work Orders imposed by the courts, more than double the figure of 261 in 2013, the NEA said in a letter to The Straits Times Forum Page yesterday.
It said it takes a "strict line against all littering offenders, regardless of nationality".
In 2006, The Sunday Times highlighted the problem with a news report headlined, "WARNING - We are becoming a GARBAGE CITY".
About a decade later, the country's trashy ways are back in the spotlight, following Facebook posts from three politicians, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. They had commented on the appalling amount of rubbish left behind by about 13,000 concertgoers at the Laneway Festival at Gardens by the Bay.
Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong wrote that Singapore is likely to become a "garbage city", if not for the foreign workers who pick up after its people.
"Cleanliness is a character thing. It shows who you really are," he wrote.
On his Facebook, Mr Lee urged people to do the right thing, and said "we need to progress from being a cleaned city to a truly clean city".
Even though stepped-up enforcement efforts could be a contributing factor to last year's 19,000 littering tickets, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan expressed disappointment at the numbers.
"If we do not mess up our own homes, then surely our streets, our clubs, our gardens must not be messed up," he said at a community event.
Despite what seems to be a perennial and unsolvable problem, many experts believe Singapore can still reclaim its sterling reputation as a clean city.
What will be key to getting this done is for all Singapore residents to do their part, they said.
As the NEA said in its letter: "While enforcement is important, to tackle the littering problem effectively, a new social norm is needed where society frowns upon littering as a socially unacceptable act, and where members of the public proactively remind litterbugs to dispose of their litter properly."
Current measures against littering in Singapore
CAROLYN KHEW Straits Times 10 Feb 15
From slapping higher fines on litterbugs to mobilising volunteers to help deter them, Singapore has a range of measures in place in its efforts to keep the country clean.
Penalties
The National Environment Agency (NEA) issued about 19,000 tickets for littering last year, which is almost double the number in 2013. Thirty-one per cent of these tickets were issued to non-residents.
On April 1 last year, the Environmental Public Health Act was amended to deter those who continue to act irresponsibly.
Under the revised Act, the maximum fine for littering offenders has been doubled to $2,000 for a first conviction. Those who persist can be fined $4,000 for their second conviction, and $10,000 for their third and subsequent convictions.
The courts may also impose Corrective Work Orders (CWOs) requiring offenders to clean public areas for up to 12 hours.
Last year, the courts issued 688 Corrective Work Orders (CWOs), more than double the 261 in 2013.
CWO was introduced in November 1992 to shame litterbugs. The first 10 litterbugs to carry out CWOs were made to clean up part of the East Coast beach on Feb 21, 1993, in front of the media.
It worked, with the authorities then saying the number of littering offences had dipped.
Earlier this month, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said the NEA is committed to stepping up enforcement of littering rules.
People power
Since the community volunteer scheme was launched in 2013, 259 volunteers from civic groups such as the Singapore Environment Council and the Cat Welfare Society have joined the volunteer corps.
The volunteers successfully engaged 830 litterbugs, persuading them to bin their trash.
Ten cases of enforcement action were taken.
These volunteers can take down the particulars of litterbugs and give the details to the authorities if they refuse to pick up and bin their trash even after being asked to do so.
The Government is considering giving these community volunteers the power to fine litterbugs.
No Cleaners Day
In Nee Soon South, for example, cleaners are given a day off on Labour Day every May 1 - also its annual No Cleaners Day - while residents step in to clean up their estate.
Last year, 500 people, including students and representatives of the area's merchant associations, combed 164 blocks of flats and picked up 500kg of litter.
Bright Spots
First launched in 2012 by the Keep Singapore Clean Movement, which is led by the Public Hygiene Council, the ground-up initiative encourages people and companies to adopt a community area to help keep it clean and litter-free.
At Punggol View Primary, pupils start off cleaning their classrooms, the school's garden and toilets before they are tasked to clean up the public park and beach area in Punggol.
There are more than 300 of such areas and the council hopes to have 500 "Bright Spots" by the end of this year.
Public education for non-residents
The NEA works with various groups to foster the right values in keeping the environment clean, as well as to encourage a ground-up movement that translates these values into action.
For the non-resident population, the NEA conducts regular roadshows at foreign workers' dormitories to raise greater awareness of social norms, such as not littering.
The agency also engages foreign workers through educational materials in their native languages. The litter-free messages are reinforced through briefings conducted by the workers' supervisors.
What more can be done to keep littering at bay?
AUDREY TAN Straits Times 10 Feb 15;
Hefty fines, Corrective Work Orders (CWOs) to shame litterbugs, as well as many years of educational campaigns... yet, Singapore is still plagued by rubbish woes.
What more can be done to banish the problem to the bins?
Make litterbugs pay more...
Retired executive vice-president of marketing Lawrence Loh suggested in a letter to The Straits Times Forum Page last Wednesday
that the National Environment Agency embark on a study to identify the sources of littering, followed by a public education campaign.
When contacted, Mr Loh, 65, said that although the fines have been made stiffer, many may not be aware of them.
"Perhaps it is a question of enforcement, as not enough are being caught... More publicity of those prosecuted for littering may deter others from doing so," he said.
Bank analyst Jason Ng, 24, said the litterbugs need to be shamed more. "They should be made to do Corrective Work Orders in the Central Business District, or at crowded places during the weekends," he said.
...or rope them in
Mr Tham Tuck Meng, 42, a teacher, suggested in his letter to The Straits Times that the authorities beef up anti-littering enforcement at big events.
He later told this newspaper that CWOs may not work as ingrained habits are hard to change. The offenders may also feel unfairly penalised and may litter even more.
Instead, litterbugs could be tasked to lead anti-littering outreach campaigns.
"That will bring them over to the side of the enforcement authorities," he said.
Setting the standard
Mr Eugene Heng, founder and chairman of green group Waterways Watch Society which conducts clean-up and environmental activities, suggested a school syllabus on anti-littering that sets the standards for a green city.
He said: "We should have a... designated class every week that teaches students what is littering, much like how we teach kids how to brush their teeth.
"You and I can both think we are clean but have different standards, and they might not be right."
Students could also watch an educational video that features a day in the life of a cleaner, said research coordinator Jeremy Heng, 26.
He added: "The video could feature an elderly cleaner or a foreign worker, and they can see how thankless but significant their roles are."
Groceries for cleanliness
Ms Tan Lin Neo, 57, a sales associate, said town councils could consider issuing grocery vouchers to households located in the cleanest housing estates.
Reducing packaging waste
Mr Lee Yong Se, 32, who works in the social sector, said reducing waste, such as plastic bags and receipts, is one way to curb the littering habit.
"Many people take plastic bags to line their bins at home, but how much trash is actually produced, so much so that it is necessary to keep a stockpile of plastic bags at home?"
Why is littering still a problem?
Samantha Boh, Carolyn Khew and Audrey Tan The Straits Times AsiaOne 12 Feb 15;
COMPLACENCY is the likely reason for Singapore's litter woes.
Experts say that when people know there will be an army of cleaners to pick up after them, they become too lazy to do the right thing.
Coddled by cleaners
With cleaners out every day to sweep up trash, many people have developed the mindset that there is always someone, somewhere, to pick up after them.
Mr Lee Yong Se, 32, who works in the social sector, said that in countries like Japan, citizens are forced to clean up after themselves owing to a lack of cleaning staff. "Here, the expectations are different.
People expect to find other people to clean up after them."
As of last September, there were 52,000 cleaners here, of which 38,000 - or about two in three - were Singaporeans or permanent residents, said the National Environment Agency (NEA).
Different cultural attitudes
New citizens and foreign workers may come from countries where keeping public spaces clean is not the norm.
About 19,000 tickets for littering were issued by the NEA last year, of which 31 per cent were given to non-residents.
"Some may not be attuned to our spirit of not littering, so you need to educate (them)," said Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah, whose constituency holds a No Cleaners Day to get residents to pick up trash.
"The majority of us don't litter... it's just that we have these new social dynamics, so we need to keep pushing hard."
Mr Lawrence Loh, 65, a retired executive vice-president of marketing, agreed.
"Some of them are from countries where there is no clampdown on littering, and they have the use-and-throw mentality," he said.
Because they can
In an NEA study done from 2009 to 2010, four out of 10 people in Singapore said they would litter out of convenience or if they knew they could get away with it.
"People litter because they don't care, and they don't care because they don't get caught," said bank analyst Jason Ng, 24.
National University of Singapore sociologist Paulin Straughan said there are those who litter to test their boundaries.
"These are the ones who would likely not break the rules if there were law enforcement officers right in front of them," she said.
Associate Professor Straughan, who led the NEA study, added that a very small minority is made up of people who are anti-establishment, very much like those of deviant sub-cultures.
"They find they cannot identify with the main group, the norms, and so they set their own rules," she said.
'That's not littering'
Everyone knows flicking a cigarette butt onto the floor or hurling a used nappy out of the window is littering.
But some Singaporeans have found their own way to justify their anti-social actions.
"If the litter bin is full and if you put trash around it, it is littering, but people will say no, (it is not)," said Prof Straughan.
The NEA study also found that about two in 10 people did not think they were littering if their serviettes blew away in the wind. Three out of 10 thought leaving rubbish on a park table after a barbecue was also not littering.
Too lenient now
"We have become reluctant to do the bad thing," said Mr Liak Teng Lit, chairman of the Public Hygiene Council, referring to enforcement, including fines and Corrective Work Orders (CWOs), and speaking up when one sees others littering.
Enforcement was more thorough in the 1970s to early 1990s, said Mr Liak, when photos of people queueing up to pay their littering fines were published.
When CWOs were introduced in 1992, offenders made to clean public areas did so under the glare of the media. Photos of them carrying out CWOs were splashed in the newspapers.
"Over the years, we have become more forgiving, with more emphasis now placed on education," said Mr Liak.
Current measures
FROM slapping higher fines on litterbugs to mobilising volunteers to help deter them, Singapore has a range of measures in place in its efforts to keep the country clean.
Penalties
The National Environment Agency (NEA) issued about 19,000 tickets for littering last year, which is almost double the number in 2013.
Thirty-one per cent of these tickets were issued to non-residents.
On April 1 last year, the Environmental Public Health Act was amended to deter those who continue to act irresponsibly.
Under the revised Act, the maximum fine for littering offenders has been doubled to $2,000 for a first conviction.
Those who persist can be fined $4,000 for their second conviction, and $10,000 for their third and subsequent convictions.
The courts may also impose Corrective Work Orders (CWOs) requiring offenders to clean public areas for up to 12 hours.
Last year, the courts issued 688 Corrective Work Orders (CWOs), more than double the 261 in 2013.
CWO was introduced in November 1992 to shame litterbugs.
The first 10 litterbugs to carry out CWOs were made to clean up part of the East Coast beach on Feb 21, 1993, in front of the media.
It worked, with the authorities then saying the number of littering offences had dipped.
Earlier this month, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said the NEA is committed to stepping up enforcement of littering rules.
People power
Since the community volunteer scheme was launched in 2013, 259 volunteers from civic groups such as the Singapore Environment Council and the Cat Welfare Society have joined the volunteer corps.
The volunteers successfully engaged 830 litterbugs, persuading them to bin their trash.
Ten cases of enforcement action were taken.
These volunteers can take down the particulars of litterbugs and give the details to the authorities if theyrefuse to pick up and bin their trash even after being asked to do so.
The Government is considering giving these community volunteers the power to fine litterbugs.
No Cleaners Day
In Nee Soon South, for example, cleaners are given a day off on Labour Day every May 1 - also its annual No Cleaners Day - while residents step in to clean up their estate.
Last year, 500 people, including students and representatives of the area's merchant associations, combed 164 blocks of flats and picked up 500kg of litter.
Bright Spots
First launched in 2012 by the Keep Singapore Clean Movement, which is led by the Public Hygiene Council, the ground-up initiative encourages people and companies to adopt a community area to help keep it clean and litter-free.
At Punggol View Primary, pupils start off cleaning their classrooms, the school's garden and toilets before they are tasked to clean up the public park and beach area in Punggol.
There are more than 300 of such areas and the council hopes to have 500 "Bright Spots" by the end of this year.
Public education for non-residents
The NEA works with various groups to foster the right values in keeping the environment clean, as well as to encourage a ground-up movement that translates these values into action.
For the non-resident population, the NEA conducts regular roadshows at foreign workers' dormitories to raise greater awareness of social norms, such as not littering.
The agency also engages foreign workers through educational materials in their native languages.
The litter-free messages are reinforced through briefings conducted by the workers' supervisors.
What more can be done?
HEFTY fines, Corrective Work Orders (CWOs) to shame litterbugs, as well as many years of educational campaigns... yet, Singapore is still plagued by rubbish woes.
What more can be done to banish the problem to the bins?
Make litterbugs pay more...
Retired executive vice-president of marketing Lawrence Loh suggested in a letter to The Straits Times Forum Page last Wednesday that the National Environment Agency embark on a study to identify the sources of littering, followed by a public education campaign.
When contacted, Mr Loh, 65, said that although the fines have been made stiffer, many may not be aware of them.
"Perhaps it is a question of enforcement, as not enough are being caught... More publicity of those prosecuted for littering may deter others from doing so," he said.
Bank analyst Jason Ng, 24, said the litterbugs need to be shamed more.
"They should be made to do Corrective Work Orders in the Central Business District, or at crowded places during the weekends," he said.
...or rope them in
He later told this newspaper that CWOs may not work as ingrained habits are hard to change.
The offenders may also feel unfairly penalised and may litter even more.
Instead, litterbugs could be tasked to lead anti-littering outreach campaigns.
"That will bring them over to the side of the enforcement authorities," he said.
Setting the standard
that sets the standards for a green city.
He said: "We should have a... designated class every week that teaches students what is littering, much like how we teach kids how to brush their teeth.
"You and I can both think we are clean but have different standards, and they might not be right."
Students could also watch an educational video that features a day in the life of a cleaner, said research coordinator Jeremy Heng, 26.
He added: "The video could feature an elderly cleaner or a foreign worker, and they can see how thankless but significant their roles are."
Groceries for cleanliness
Ms Tan Lin Neo, 57, a sales associate, said town councils could consider issuing grocery vouchers to households located in the cleanest housing estates.
Reducing packaging waste
Mr Lee Yong Se, 32, who works in the social sector, said reducing waste, such as plastic bags and receipts, is one way to curb the littering habit.
"Many people take plastic bags to line their bins at home, but how much trash is actually produced, so much so that it is necessary to keep a stockpile of plastic bags at home?"
1 night, 1 bridge, 50 bags of trash
Chin Yong Chang The New Paper AsiaOne 12 Feb 15;
In one night, it is not uncommon for Mr Keria Peli to collect 50 trash bags of litter from Read Bridge and its vicinity.
On a bad day, he collects 30 bags from just one round of cleaning the bridge.
This is despite the fact that at least five dustbins are placed around the bridge.
The trash is mostly left behind by irresponsible outdoor partygoers.
It is clear from the photos on these pages, taken last Friday night and Saturday morning, that not much has changed after the mess at Laneway Festival Singapore 2015 made the news.
Then, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong commented on Facebook, saying that Singaporeans should pick up their own litter so that we can progress from being a "cleaned city to a truly clean city".
Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and the Public Hygiene Council chairman Liak Teng Lit also weighed in on the issue.
But it seems that their words may have fallen on deaf ears.
We watched Mr Keria, 49, at work at Robertson Quay and Clarke Quay last Friday at 10pm.
The Malaysian has been working for Veolia Environmental Services for the past 13 years and travels six days a week from his home in Johor to report for his 12-hour shift at 6.30pm. The cleaner earns about $1,200 a month.
At about 11pm, we followed Mr Keria to the vicinity of Read Bridge. There were droves of people drinking, leaving empty bottles, cans and plastic bags when they left.
Many partygoers thought nothing of littering, assuming that someone else would pick up after them.
'FORGET'
Mr Nicholas Tan, 21, who frequents Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay, said: "I try to throw away my rubbish after I am done. But sometimes when you're tipsy, you might forget to clean up."
Mr Keria told TNP in Malay that the scene can get really bad.
"About a year ago, fights were a daily occurrence here," he said.
"Because there were a lot of broken bottles, it was hard to sweep up the glass pieces."
Sometimes, people get drunk and throw up on the bridge.
The stench would overwhelm him, but he said that as a cleaner, he has no choice but to clean it.
Lea Wee The Sunday Times AsiaOne 10 Feb 15;
A slew of edible gardens is burnishing Singapore's reputation as a garden city.
Over the last two to three years, more than 80 plots with fruits, herbs and vegetables have sprung up not only in private and public housing estates, but also in eateries, malls, schools and offices as urban farming takes off here.
Just last month, the Singapore Management University launched such a garden, about the size of a basketball court, outside the School of Accountancy and Law building along Queen Street.
Companies that help build and maintain these urban farms, which typically range from a few hundred to a few thousand sq ft, report a growing interest.
For instance, Edible Garden City, UGrowGardens and Plantvisionz say they had only a handful of projects when they started a few years ago.
Last year, each handled more than 10 projects.
A Facebook page called Grow Your Own Food In Singapore, set up by environmentalist Bhavani Prakash, 44, has garnered more than 1,200 likes since it was started in 2013.
The National Parks Board's Community In Bloom programme, a nationwide gardening programme which started in 2005, has also seen the creation of more than 700 gardens all over the island.
People want to grow their own food for various reasons, says former aerospace engineer James Lam, 55, who founded UGrowGardens in 2013.
He says: "Chefs and homeowners want fresh produce for their kitchens. Companies use the gardens to help their staff relieve stress.
"Schools use them as a tool to teach teamwork or as part of community service, when they get their students to take the harvests to the poor.
"It is also a good way to promote community bonding and for neighbours to get to know one another."
Some property developers are also beginning to see the value of turning their ornamental rooftop space into a productive food garden, says Mr Bjorn Low, 35, who founded Edible Garden City with former landscape designer Robert Pearce, 38, in 2012.
He says: "Instead of paying a landscape firm to maintain an ornamental garden, they pay us to maintain a food garden and in the process, they can also use the space to conduct value-added events on food growing for their tenants."
The social enterprise is in negotiations with the management of Bugis Village to start a commercial farm at a 10,000 sq ft space on the rooftop of its multi-storey carpark.
The farm will supply fresh vegetables and herbs to eateries nearby.
If successful, it will not be the only commercial urban farm in town.
Singapore's first commercial urban rooftop farm was set up by social enterprise Comcrop at youth hub *Scape in Orchard Link last April.
The 6,000 sq ft farm now churns out 10kg each of basil and mint every day that it supplies to about 30 restaurants and hotels nearby.
Meanwhile, a 5,800 sq ft rooftop farm called G.R.E.E.N.S by two entrepreneurs started running last August at Bugis Cube mall.
Observers trace the growing popularity of urban farms here to several factors, including a growing awareness of how the heavy use of pesticides and fertilisers can harm health and the environment.
Says Ms Prakash, who grows vegetables, fruits and herbs on the balcony of her condominium unit: "When you grow your own food, you are more careful about what you put into the soil because you know you are going to eat it."
Other factors include the worldwide food security crisis in 2007, which caused disruptions in the supply of rice and other food products here, as well as recent food contamination scares, says Professor Paul Teng, a food security expert from the National Institute of Education.
"They made Singaporeans realise that some level of self-sufficiency was important," he says.
Information on how to grow your own food is also more easily available these days.
HortPark in the Alexandra Road area holds guided tours to its vegetable garden. The public can also sign up for related talks and demonstrations at its Gardeners' Day Out event, held once every two months.
Edible Garden City has been running free sessions on food growing too. On Feb 21, it will pilot a formal course on urban farming for the public over six weekends at a shophouse in Rowell Road.
Each session, to be held over four hours on Saturday and Sunday, is tentatively priced at $40.
By the end of the year, it will also pilot an urban food trail linking Comcrop and at least four herb gardens in town.
A first of its kind, the project allows participants to visit the gardens and sample their produce in the restaurants.
As interest grows, farming input and equipment are also becoming more easily available.
For example, Prof Teng says there are companies that sell simple small vertical vegetable boxes, complete with soil and seedlings, at relatively low prices.
These can fit easily on apartment balconies.
And plant nurseries, which traditionally sell mainly ornamental plants, now also sell various kinds of vegetables in pots. The cost of growing one's own edible garden varies.
For instance, Mr Lam from UGrow- Gardens says its vertical growing systems, which costs about $120 each, can grow up to about 200 vegetables such as kailan, bakchoy and chye sim within a 11/2 sq ft space. The vegetables can be harvested after four weeks.
Mr Low from Edible Garden City says the cost of having an edible plot starts from as low as $10 for three to four styrofoam boxes of vegetables, such as chye sim or xiao bai cai, including soil and seeds.
The amount can go up to $20,000 and beyond for a garden of at least 4,000 sq ft. Such a plot would be big enough for at least 10 fruiting shrubs, 100 pots of different herbs and rows of vegetables. Herbs can be harvested anytime, while vegetables typically take about a month.
Prof Teng notes that the growing popularity of urban farms here is part of a worldwide trend that hopes to tap urban spaces to meet some of the world's food needs.
A study last year warned that the world would face a dire food shortage by 2050, as there may not be enough resources to sustain the projected population of 9 billion people.
Such farms are now common in big cities such as Boston and Toronto while in Asia, there are significant movements in Seoul and Shanghai.
The Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations estimates that urban or peri-urban agriculture (farms that are found in cities and its immediate surroundings) now supplies 20 per cent of the world's food needs.
In some cities such as Hanoi in Vietnam, it is estimated that up to 80 per cent of the vegetables consumed during the summer months are from the peri-urban areas.
But while growing your own food at home and in the community is getting easier, those who want to turn it into a viable business still face hurdles.
Prof Teng says land and labour costs in cities are high, and these often drive up the cost of vegetables produced by urban farms.
More than 90 per cent of Singapore food is imported, but the Government has expressed a wish to hit certain sufficiency targets for fish, eggs and vegetables through commercial farms. The targets are constantly being reviewed.
This, says Prof Teng, will encourage people to give running commercial farms a shot.
In 2013, Singapore produced about 10,300 tonnes of leafy vegetables, which made up about 12 per cent of its total consumption. Government support is vital to the survival of commercial urban farms, says Prof Teng.
"The Government, as a land owner, may want to consider extending the land lease for these farmers to a longer period, such as 30 years, so that Singaporeans would be more willing to go into farming," he suggests.
Comcrop's lease is for six years while G.R.E.E.N.S' lease is for five years.
Still, industry players are optimistic that more people will want to venture into the commercial urban farming scene.
Mr Allan Lim, 42, who founded Comcrop with three others, says more technologies are now available to boost the efficiency of producing vegetables.
Comcrop uses an automated proprietary system which "doubles the capacity and halves the labour".
This helps keep the cost of its herbs competitive. The aquaponics farm cost the founders the "upper end of a six-figure sum" and they expect to break even by the middle of this year.
A growing demand for local produce is also a positive sign.
For instance, Comcrop has seen the demand for its herbs grow by 20 per cent every month since last April.
It is in talks with an industrial land- owner to build another rooftop farm 10 times bigger than its current one, at a food hub in Woodlands.
He says: "Consumers are seeing the value of eating locally produced food which tends to be fresher and hence tastes better."
He pegs the price of the basil and mint Comcrop produces to wholesale prices. So if the wholesale price of 1kg of basil is $40 that week, he would sell his at the same price.
El Mero Mero, a Mexican restaurant in Victoria Street, gets almost all its supply of mint and habanero chilli - about 500g each week - from Comcrop.
But there have been some weeks when Comcrop could not meet the demand due to factors such as bad weather.
Executive chef Remy Lefebvre, 37, says this is to be expected as Comcrop is just one production house. If there are more farms like it, supply would be more stable, he notes.
He says: "We prefer to buy local because the produce is fresher and has a stronger flavour. The price is also competitive."
Herb garden in HDB corridor
Personal fitness trainer Balan Gopal gets a kick out of turning trash into something useful.
Among other things, the 43-year-old father of two has made a lamp out of an empty 2-litre milk bottle and turned a netting he collected from a construction site into a bag that holds his gym shoes while allowing them to be aired.
So when he saw last year that coffee shops were throwing away used coffee grounds, he lugged bags of them back to his three-room Housing Board flat in Balestier, to the horror of his wife, Madam Chan Lan Foong, 43.
She is a vice-president in a bank and the couple have two sons, aged 11 and eight.
He researched online and read that coffee grounds can be used as a base for growing oyster mushrooms, one of his favourite foods. One thing led to another and, within a few months, he found himself growing other vegetables and herbs.
Today, there are herbs such as basil and mint growing in 15 recycled soft drink bottles that he has secured to the railing outside his flat.
There are also herbs sprouting from about 150 small transparent plastic cups at the railing outside his in-laws' place two doors away.
There, he also grows oyster mushrooms in 12 soft drink bottles as well as vegetables such as bak choy and kangkong in a styrofoam box.
He harvests the plants about two to three times a month and his mother- in-law, who cooks for his family, uses them in her dishes. He gives any excess to his appreciative neighbours and also uses the various herbs to brew tea for his family.
"It's so nice to eat what you grow. They taste fresher and sweeter than the ones you buy," he says.
He now has more than 20 types of edibles and hopes to grow more varieties of food with different harvesting times so that they can eventually supply most of his family's meals.
It is not an expensive hobby, says Mr Gopal, who reckons that he has spent about $300 so far, mainly on plants and seeds.
He relies heavily on recycled materials. Besides coffee grounds, he also collects fruit peels from a fruitseller in a nearby hawker centre.
Sometimes, he even lifts the covers of rubbish bins and scans them for plastic bottles and bags of decomposed vegetables.
Back home, he washes the bottles and uses them to hold his plants. He feeds the fruit and vegetables to earthworms, hundreds of which are housed in two big containers outside his flat. He then uses their castings, or manure, to fertilise his plants.
But it took some trial and error before he got things right.
"So many plants died in the first couple of months, I lost count," he recalls.
Other mistakes he made in the early days include leaving the coffee grounds outside for more than a month and adding fish guts that had not fully decomposed to fertilise his plants.
Both gave off a stench that, according to his wife and children, rivalled that from a rubbish truck.
Madam Chan says she thought initially that her husband was going through a mid-life crisis.
But she has since come to appreciate that his "crazy ideas" do work.
Mr Gopal, who will start an online business (www.herbinacup.com) next month selling eco-friendly products he created, says he is passionate about growing his own food because he wants to challenge himself. He says: "I wanted to show people that it's possible to grow your own food in built-up areas like HDB flats."
He also wants to teach his children the basics of growing food and that "food does not grow in supermarkets".
His sons now help him harvest, prune and propagate his plants. Troy, his older boy, says: "I want to grow my own food too when I grow up, so that I don't have to waste money buying it."
Edible landscape
As a child, Mr Alexius Yeo helped his mother tend to her pots of flowers. Later, as a streetscape manager at the National Parks Board, he helped maintain roadside greenery.
But it never occurred to him to grow edible plants until he went to the Philippines in October 2012 to volunteer with the non-governmental group Gawad Kalinga for eight months. Based in the Philippines, the group aims to reduce poverty and has built thousands of villages in the country.
The 29-year-old recalls: "I was assigned to a farm to do landscaping. There were not many ornamental plants around, so I found myself landscaping food plants such as lemongrass and sweet potatoes."
The experience made him realise the value of growing plants that are "not only good to look at, but also edible".
"When we grow something as basic as our own food and are sustained by it, we find a personal connection to the place they grow in," he says.
He sees building beautiful edible landscapes as one way Singaporeans can develop a deeper connection with their land and the people they share it with.
When he returned to Singapore in June 2013, he joined Edible Garden City as an urban farmer. The social enterprise designs, builds and maintains edible landscapes.
In June last year, he asked his parents, with whom he lives, if he could turn the lawn in their Serangoon North corner terrace house into an edible garden. The patch is about one third the size of a basketball court.
The bachelor says: "Since I was helping people create edible landscape, I thought I should also do my own."
With his parents' approval, Mr Yeo, who was then working part-time with Edible Garden City, started to prepare the soil. That was the "most physically tiring part", which took him three afternoons every week for four months. It involved digging out the grass, creating raised vegetable beds and manually mixing the compost into the beds.
Once he got that part done, he began planting the seeds and bringing in the plants. All in, he spent about $600, largely on soil and plants.
He makes his own chemical-free pesticide by crushing together neem leaf, chilli and garlic and soaking them in water. He also creates fertilisers from leftover vegetables and coffee grounds.
Today, his plot is thriving and contains 10 kinds of local vegetables and 15 types of herbs.
He says: "I wanted to grow local vegetables because they are better adapted to the climate here and are hence easier to grow. I am also excited to bring back vegetables that used to be popular among Singaporeans, such as mugwort and mani cai."
He also grows speciality herbs such as chocolate mint and cinnamon basil, which are not readily available in supermarkets.
Mr Yeo, who now runs Carbon Inq, a nature-based experiential learning programme for schools, spends less time on his garden these days, but he still harvests the plants three times a week. His parents, both retirees, and his brother, 32, a computer animator, help him occasionally.
His mum, Mrs Isabel Yeo, 67, the main cook in the family, says: "I like that I can just go out to the garden to pluck what I need for my cooking. The plants are very fresh and fragrant. I never teared when I cut spring onions in the past, but I do when I cut those I pluck from the garden."
To encourage his neighbours to start their own edible gardens, Mr Yeo opened up his garden to them last month.
About 25 people turned up, some from as far as Jurong, after learning about it through word of mouth. Mr Yeo also slipped pamphlets about the event into the mailboxes of his neighbours' houses.
Over two hours, the group had a hands-on session in the garden followed by a potluck gathering where they got to know one another.
Mr Yeo says: "It was heartening to see people of all ages and from all professions. There's definitely an interest here in growing your own food, but people often do not know where or how to start."
To provide some answers to these questions, he plans to run free workshops at his place every month. Besides giving tips to his neighbours on how to grow edibles and cook them, he will also invite them to get their hands dirty in his garden.
He says: "It's my way of connecting with my neighbours through doing something meaningful together. When you grow your own food, you will come to better appreciate how much time and effort go behind its production."
Breastfeeding mums wanted to eat well
When Ms Chuah Khai Lin and Ms Evelyn Toh started breastfeeding their babies five years ago, they became more conscious of what they were eating.
Says Ms Toh, 38, whose daughter, an only child, is now five: "We wanted to eat food that was nutritious and free of chemicals so that we wouldn't pass anything harmful to our kids."
They have known each other since they were mass communication students at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and became interested in where their food came from and how to grow them.
But the two, who live in HDB flats, did not know where to start.
Says Ms Toh: "I thought you could grow vegetables only if you have enough land."
Then last year, while pitching for a branding project for Bugis Cube, Ms Chuah, 38, who was then working as a freelance art director, and Ms Toh, who was running her own branding and design consultancy, learnt that a 5,800 sq ft space on the rooftop of the shopping mall was available for rent.
Coincidentally, at around the same time, they met Mr James Lam, who founded UGrowGardens in 2013.
The consultancy helps people build and maintain food gardens. Mr Lam, 55, has developed several systems of growing high volumes of vegetables in limited space in the backyard of his parents' house and was looking for a bigger plot to display them.
The three decided to work together.
Says Ms Chuah: "It would be a symbiotic relationship. Evelyn and I would pay the rent and get to do a lot of hands-on learning while UGrowGardens could use our space to upgrade existing vertical growing systems and also test prototypes of new systems which we will also help develop."
The women decided that their main sources of revenue would come from developing starter kits and running workshops on how to grow edibles.
Says Ms Chuah: "We felt there would be a demand because people are more concerned about eating healthily these days, and growing your own food is a way to do so because you won't be adding chemicals to what you grow."
So even though the two were nervous about the viability of their business, they signed on the dotted line last August, got the space on a five-year lease and started their company, G.R.E.E.N.S. (short for Grow, Reap, Eat, Educate, Nurture and Share).
They invested about $8,000 to $10,000 in all on growing supplies such as fertilisers, seeds and peat, and depended on recycled materials such as pots and trays to hold their plants. They decline to reveal their monthly rental, but industry sources put it at a four-figure sum.
Their husbands have been supportive, turning up on weekends to help them. Ms Chuah's husband, a former loyalty marketing director, is in between jobs while Ms Toh's husband is an IT manager.
It has been a lot of hard physical work, say the women.
When they are not out on the rooftop in their hats, they would be out visiting farms with Mr Lam at places such as Kranji and Lim Chu Kang to learn from other farmers.
The most challenging part so far has been dealing with the heat and wind on the rooftop. Says Ms Chuah: "The plants need to be watered every few hours. It is very tiring."
It is not uncommon for up to 40 per cent of seedlings to die due to the heat and wind. They are in the midst of installing an irrigation system for the plants and building a nursery for their seedlings.
When their plants do not do well, they would take them home to nurse them back to health. They now have their own herbs growing along the corridor outside their flats or hung in pots on window grilles. By October last year, they had learnt enough to give talks and run workshops. The following month, they had developed their own starter kits for growing herbs, vegetables and microgreens.
So far, they have held five workshops, each attended by about 10 to 15 people who paid $25 to $30 each. They have also sold more than 300 starter kits, which cost between $10 and $20 and can be bought online at greens.sg.
The kits contain all you need to start growing edibles such as lemon basil and arugula, and includes seeds, soil and pot.
Says Ms Chuah: "We keep our prices affordable because we believe that healthy eating should not be only for the rich."
Although they are still in the red, they say it has been a fulfilling journey. Plus, they no longer buy herbs such as basil and coriander, but use what they grow instead. Ms Toh also grows spinach and chye sim.
Says Ms Chuah: "We are definitely making a ripple. When someone tells us that he has used our starter kits to grow and harvest his plants, we feel satisfaction."
They also plan to sell the vegetables they harvest from their rooftop garden. They now specialise in microgreens and herbs such as chocolate mint and cinnamon basil, which are not widely sold here, and sell them to eateries nearby.
Although the women, who are in this full-time, have given themselves a year to break even, they will persist even if they do not.
Says Ms Chuah, who has two sons aged five and three: "We believe in what we are doing. We have no backup plans."
Channel NewsAsia 9 Feb 15;
SINGAPORE: An executive from ornamental fish service provider Qian Hu Corporation was on Monday (Feb 9) charged in Australia for attempting to smuggle A$300,000 (S$315,000) worth of endangered fish into the country on Feb 2.
According to The Australian, Singaporean Alex Chang Kuok Weai appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, via video link, and was charged with one count of importing in breach of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Court documents stated that Australian Customs and Border Protection Services officers found 20 plastic bags concealed in Chang’s luggage after a flight from Singapore. A number of endangered fish — some alive, some dead — were found inside those bags, and the total value of the fish was almost A$300,000, it added.
When contacted by Channel NewsAsia, a Qian Hu spokesperson said: "Alex was on annual leave when he visited Australia in his personal capacity. We are not in a position to comment as this case is in the hands of the Australian authorities." The spokesperson confirmed Chang is the company's Head of Group Integrated R&D Department.
CURRENT CHARGE MAY NOT BE FINAL
The Australian also reported that Chang's arrest had triggered further investigations, and prosecutor Elim Chan asked for a "longer-than-usual adjournment so these could continue".
"There are international investigations underway, and the current charges may well not be the final ones," Ms Chan said in the article. She said 26 of the fish seized were believed to be from the species listed under CITES, but officers were verifying the exact number.
Chang's lawyer, Jessica Kurtzer, said her client intended to apply for bail but "his proposed guarantor was no longer able to assist".
"I'm currently speaking with his employers in Singapore, who are assisting him. They are endeavouring to find a suitable address for him," Ms Kurtzer said.
Chang was remanded in custody until next month, The Australian reported.
- CNA/kk
Qian Hu worker accused of smuggling fish
My Paper AsiaOne 10 Feb 15;
ADELAIDE, Australia - An employee of Singapore ornamental fish firm Qian Hu appeared before an Adelaide court yesterday in a case of smuggling of exotic fish.
Customs officers allegedly found 20 plastic bags containing live and dead endangered fish, worth A$235,000 (S$247,000), concealed in the bag of Alex Chang Kuok Weai, 44, when he landed at the city's airport on Feb 2.
Around 26 of the fish are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, ABC news reported.
The find sparked an international investigation, the magistrate's court heard yesterday. Chang may plead guilty to importing a protected species at his next hearing in three weeks. He is in custody, because a suitable bail address was not found.
In a statement, Chang's employer Qian Hu said that its employee, head of the group integrated research and development department, was on annual leave when he visited Australia in his personal capacity.
"We are not in a position to comment, as this case is in the hands of the Australian authorities," a spokesman told The Straits Times.
The prosecution told the court it appeared that many of the fish had been microchipped, a common practice for rare and exotic species in parts of Asia.
A search of two properties linked to Chang in Adelaide led to the discovery of more exotic fish, it was alleged.
Antara 9 Feb 15;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Incessant rainfall since Sunday has left the city of Jakarta flooded, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said.
"The municipalities of central, north and west Jakarta have been hit the worst by the floods," spokesman for the BNPB, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, stated here on Monday.
Water at the Karet sluice gate had reached a height of 630 centimeters at noon, which means it had reached the highest emergency alert status level I.
Among the places affected by the floods in Central Jakarta were the Tanah Abang Railway Station, Jati Baru, and Petamburan; Jati Pinggir, JPO antara Roxy, and Latumenten were inundated in West Jakarta; and in North Jakarta, Teluk Gong, Kapuk, and Muara Angke were hit by floodwaters.
"The level of water at a number of sluice gates of rivers has increased. At the Katulampa sluice gate, it reached 80 centimeters (alert status level III) at noon; at the Manggarai sluice gate, it was 800 centimeters (alert III) at 11 a.m. and 825 centimeter (siaga III) at noon," he informed.
The sluice gate in Pasar Ikan reached 208 centimeters (alert II), and at the Pluit sluice gate, water level rose by 30 centimeters.
Given these conditions, the floods could spread further, Nugroho pointed out, warning those living along the Ciliwung river basin area to stay alert for flash floods.
"The floods in Jakarta were not caused by overflowing rivers, but were a result of a poor drainage system and land spatial planning," he explained.
Furthermore, Governor of Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok suspected that the flooding in the capital city was an act of sabotage.
"This morning, I woke up at 2 a.m. because of the rain. When I checked the CCTV camera footage, I found that the one in Istiqlal was off. I suspected that the palace was flooded and that it could be an act of sabotage or a deliberate action. All waterways were functioning well, so flooding should have been impossible," Ahok noted in his office, which was also inundated, on Monday.
Incessant downpours have triggered floods in at least 49 locations in Jakarta, according to the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Office (BPBD).
"The heavy rainfall that began Sunday evening and continued till this morning has inundated 49 locations throughout Jakarta," Bambang Suryaputra of the BPBD confirmed here on Monday.
Of the 49 flood-affected locations, 22 are in Central Jakarta. These include Jalan MH Thamrin, Cempaka Baru, Ahmad Yani, Kwitang Raya,Majapahit, Budi Kemuliaan, Percetakan Negara, Jalan Cempaka Putih Tengah, and Senen Raya, among several other places.
T.W004 (f001/INE/S012)
EDITED BY INE.
Jakarta: A Metropolis Underwater, and Under Siege
Jakarta Globe 9 Feb 15;
Jakarta. Heavy rain across the Greater Jakarta area, which started late on Sunday and lasted well into Monday afternoon, have inundated at least 2,600 homes across the capital, causing blackouts and massive traffic gridlock all day long.
Murky waters reaching 50 centimeters deep rushed into homes across Central, North and West Jakarta, but the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) had not at the time of writing ordered any evacuations, said BPBD spokesman Bambang Surya Putra.
The agency has instead erected makeshift levees to prevent more water from entering homes and buildings.
Heavy showers battered Jakarta as well as the hilly areas of Bogor where the capital’s rivers originate, sending greater volumes of water downstream and into the city.
West Jakarta suffered the most severe cases of flooding, with both the Ciliwung and Krukut rivers overflowing.
The Karet flood gate, where the two rivers meet, struggled to contain the heavy influx of water, prompting officials to raise the area’s emergency alert status to 1, it’s highest level.
Officials were forced to ease water levels, which reached a peak of 6.3 meters, causing flooding in the West Jakarta wards of Petamburan, Jelambar, Pluit, Duri Pulo, Tomang, Cideng and Grogol.
Meanwhile, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho assured officials continued to monitor the 12 flood gates located in and around Jakarta.
“If these conditions continue, flooding will spread. Water levels upstream will continue to rise, causing areas downstream to be inundated,” he said.
The floods brought Jakarta traffic to a standstill, with commuters complaining of roads to work and schools being completely inaccessible.
City Hall in Central Jakarta was not spared from rising water levels that cut off access to the area, while two of the capital’s main roads — Sudirman and Thamrin — were submerged in up to 40 centimeters of rainwater.
No transport
Public transportation received a severe blow, with the TransJakarta busway ceasing operations of at least four of its corridors on Monday morning.
Service for Corridor II, which connects Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, with Harmoni in Central Jakarta, was brought to a halt due to severe flooding in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, where roads submerged in up to 1 meter of water were inaccessible to all modes of transport.
Corridor VIII connecting Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, and Harmoni, ceased operations due to high water levels in Kedoya West Jakarta.
Meanwhile, Corridors X (from Cililitan, East Jakarta, to Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta) and XI (connecting Pluit with Tanjung Priok) were halted due to flooding in Sunter, North Jakarta.
The Jakarta Police’s traffic division counted 52 flooded roads as of noon, across the city.
“We received reports of 16 [flooded] areas in Central Jakarta, 11 in North Jakarta, 10 in West Jakarta, nine in South Jakarta, and six in East Jakarta,” said Adj. Sr. Comr. Budiyanto of the Jakarta Police.
Train services were also disrupted as train stations in Tanah Abang and Kota struggled to keep persistent flood waters at bay. KRL commuter trains from Jakarta’s satellite cities Bogor and Depok could go no further than Manggarai station in South Jakarta.
Apologizing for the unforeseen circumstances, spokesperson for state-owned train company KAI Commuter Jabodetabek, Eva Chairunisa, advised commuters to find other modes of transportation as it was too dangerous for trains to pass flooded areas.
As a precautionary measure, state utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negera shut down its power grid in several areas of North, West and Central Jakarta.
“PLN will restore the electricity supply when our installations and those of our customers are dry and ready,” spokesman Mambang Hertadi told a press conference in Jakarta.
Mambang added that the company had cut off the flow of electricity at more than 400 substations — in Marunda and Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta; Cikupa, Kebon Jeruk, Cengkareng and Teluk Naga in West Jakarta; and Cempaka Putih — as the substations were flooded.
“We will clean up these substations and check them first,” the spokesman added. “For our customers, please make sure that all electronic appliances and installations are no longer wet.”
The satellite city of Bekasi saw water levels reaching 50 centimeters in some areas, also causing gridlock and flooding to pour into homes.
“People have had to cancel their daily activities — work, school — to take care of their houses and protect them from floods,” said Adi, a Bekasi resident.
Elusive solutions
Since the start of the year, flooding in the Greater Jakarta area, or Jabodetabek, has forced nearly 20,000 people from their homes due to heavy rains, according to data from the BNPB.
Experts have for years urged the Jakarta Administration to fix the capital’s failing infrastructure, including its drainage system, while revamping the city’s canals.
As the rainy season peaks, flash floods increase in both frequency and severity, causing destruction of property, disrupting schools and forcing more and more people to evacuate their homes, said Nirwono Yoga, an urban planning expert for Trisakti University in West Jakarta.
This severely underscores the city’s infrastructure shortcomings, he added.
Due to the poor construction of Jakarta’s riverbanks, urban planners say major failures in the system are leading to further damage and disasters, he said.
Nirwono worries about the future of the capital’s buildings with most rainwater going straight into Jakarta’s drainage system rather than into the ground.
“The government should move towards an eco-drainage system, allowing water to soak into the ground as soon as possible, instead of lining the city’s riverbanks with concrete. The government should think more towards the future,” he said.
Drastic and immediate improvements are needed in the capital’s drainage system, only 33 percent of which are still functional, he said.
The urban planning expert also called for the normalization of rivers, which is still ongoing along South Jakarta’s Pesanggrahan River and the Ciliwung River.
But Nirwono particularly underlined the development of more green spaces to act as water catchment areas.
Less than 10 percent of the capital’s land area consists of parks or open spaces, while sustainable urban planning requires a city to consist of at least 30 percent of green space, he added.
It’s only just begun, Jakarta’s residents warned
Dewanti A. Wardhani and Sita W. Dewi, The Jakarta Post 10 Feb 15;
Greater Jakarta residents are expected to be cautious for the next few days, as heavy rainfall was forecasted to continue after downpours all through the night triggered floods across the capital on Monday.
Floodwaters with depths of 50 centimeters inundated several areas, including thoroughfares such as Jl. MH Thamrin, Sarinah, Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat and Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta, causing major traffic congestion.
The Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) reported that at noon there had been 107 places inundated, mostly in West and Central Jakarta. Many families were forced to leave their flooded houses.
Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) spokesperson Harry Tirto said heavy rainfall was expected to continue in Greater Jakarta for the next one or two days.
“The rain on Monday was only the beginning of this month’s high rainfall. Residents in Greater Jakarta should expect similar conditions for the next one to two days. We are entering the peak of the rainy season,” Harry told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The floods also affected Commuter Line and Transjakarta bus routes, some of which halted operations or were redirected. The Tanah Abang railway station in Central Jakarta was closed as the railway tracks were inundated.
Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama also pointed out that the rising sea level off the capital’s north coast was a factor that had triggered severe flooding. “Furthermore, many of our pumps need to be repaired in order to work faster and better.”
The capacity of the city’s 44 reservoirs, he said, could not cope with the increasing volume of water caused by rising sea levels and incessant rain.
Commenting on floodwaters inundating the State Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Ahok said it should not have happened as all nearby water pumps and reservoirs were working.
“The Pluit [Reservoir] and Manggarai [water channel] are working just fine so it’s bizarre that the State Palace is flooded,” he said.
The country’s flagship museum, the National Museum, has also been flooded for the first time in its history, according to Intan Mardiana, the museum director.
“Floodwater entered parts of the building this morning but we quickly resolved the issue by turning on three water pumps, which managed to drain the floodwater from the museum relatively quickly,” Intan said.
Floodwater started to enter parts of the museum as heavy rain hit the capital city on Monday morning. “The floodwater was up to the ankles.” It appeared that the drainage system surrounding the museum could no longer accommodate the excess rain water,” said Intan.
The floodwaters inundating the museum began to recede at 1 p.m. “Today’s flood was the first ever in the history of the National Museum. We have never experienced such an event before,” said Intan.
While most areas were affected by the floodwaters, Jatinegara district in East Jakarta, which was known as a flood-prone area, was unusually free of floodwater.
Joice Layla Andres, a resident of Bidara Cina, Jatinegara, said her home and neighborhood were free of floods despite heavy rainfall in Jakarta. “We are only flooded when it rains in Bogor. So heavy rains in Jakarta are not likely to affect my area,” she said.
In nearby Tangerang regency, 12 out of 29 districts also suffered from flooding.
The Star 10 Feb 15;
PETALING JAYA: Nepal’s most wanted fugitive rhino poacher in recent years has been deported back to his home country after being arrested by Malaysian police.
National Central Bureau/Interpol assistant director Supt Gan Thek Guan confirmed that Rajkumar Praja, 31, was deported to Nepal on Sunday.
“He was here for nine days illegally, and he came in (to Malaysia) with different documents,” he told The Star.
Gan said Rajkumar, who is wanted by Nepalese police, was escorted by the country’s officers.
He confirmed that Rajkumar’s poaching was done in Nepal, with none of his acts carried out here.
Further information would be revealed on Interpol’s website in a matter of days, he said.
In 2013, an Interpol Red Notice – or international wanted persons alert – was issued at Nepal’s request for Rajkumar.
He is currently wanted to serve a sentence of 15 years for poaching rhinos in central Nepal’s Chitwan National Park.
A report by Nepalese daily newspaper Kantipur said Rajkumar has been on the run since 2013, and was said to have killed 15 rhinos.
The park is believed to house most of the country’s 500-odd Indian rhinos, also known as the greater one-horned rhinoceros.
The Indian rhinoceros, classified as a “vulnerable” animal under the global IUCN Red List, can also be found in the northern parts of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
WWF-Malaysia (World Wildlife Fund) executive director Datuk Dr Dionysus Sharma said Nepal had a “sterling” track record in recent years making sure that there was no poaching there.
“What may happen is that poachers may look elsewhere if they still want to ply their trade,” Dr Dionysus said.
Wildlife trade monitoring group Traffic (South-East Asia) regional director Dr Chris Shepherd said it was good to see both Nepal and Malaysia cooperating against rhino horn traders.
The International Rhino Federation website estimates that more than 3,200 of them are in India and Nepal, with the former having 85% of them.
Nepal’s most wanted wildlife criminal nabbed in Malaysia
New Straits Times 17 Feb 15;
LYON, France: Nepal’s most wanted wildlife criminal and the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, has been arrested in Malaysia following close international collaboration via Interpol channels.
Rajkumar Praja, the ringleader of a rhino poaching network in Nepal, is wanted to serve a 15-year sentence for rhino poaching and trading internationally in rhino horns. Nepali authorities requested a Red Notice, or international wanted persons alert, for the 31-year-old after he fled the country.
In 2013, Nepal police, with the support of the Nepalese Army and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, arrested a network of more than a dozen poachers in suspected killing of some 19 rhinos in the Chitwan National Park. Praja, however, managed to escape.
Information exchanged between the Interpol National Central Bureaus in Nepal and Malaysia on the case and Praja’s possible whereabouts eventually resulted in his arrest by the local police in January 2015, where he was found in possession of a fraudulent passport issued under a false name. He has since been returned to Nepal.
“What we have achieved with the arrest of Rajkumar Praja is a testament to how law enforcement agencies can utilise Interpol resources to share information and coordinate beyond national boundaries to combat transnational organised crime,” said director of the Nepal Police Central Investigation Bureau, Hemant Malla Thakuri.
“This arrest sends a strong message to criminals hiding in a foreign country that no matter where they are, they are not safe and will be caught one day,” he said.
Praja was a target of Interpol’s Operation Infra Terra in 2014. As Interpol’s first global fugitive operation focused on criminals wanted for environmental crimes, Infra Terra targeted 139 fugitives wanted by 36-member countries for illegal fishing, wildlife trafficking, illegal trade and disposal of waste, illegal logging and trading in illicit ivory and more.
Other high-profile targets of Operation Infra Terra who have been arrested as a result of the global operation include suspected illegal ivory trader Ben Simasiku and Feisal Mohamed Ali, the alleged leader of an ivory smuggling ring.
Interpol’s activities to investigate and disrupt wildlife crime networks operating in Asia come under its Project Predator. The project aims to support and enhance the governance and law enforcement capacity for the conservation of Asian big cats and is primarily funded by the US Agency for International Development.
Alister Doyle PlanetArk 10 Feb 15;
Air pollution tied to industrialization in the northern hemisphere almost certainly reduced rainfall over Central America in new evidence that human activity can disrupt the climate, a study suggested on Monday.
"We identify an unprecedented drying trend since 1850," the scientists wrote in the journal Nature Geoscience after studying the rate of growth since 1550 of a stalagmite found in a cave in the tiny nation of Belize.
Stalagmites are pointed rocks formed by mineral-rich water dripping from the cavern roof.
The experts, from Britain, the United States, Switzerland and Germany, said the drying in Belize "coincides with increasing aerosol emissions in the northern hemisphere" as the Industrial Revolution pushed up fossil fuel use.
The findings indicate that growing air pollution in countries such as China and India may cause further disruption, especially in Asia, to a band of tropical rains that encircles the globe around the equator and is vital to farming.
The scientists linked the drying to sun-dimming pollution because the nine biggest volcanic eruptions in the northern hemisphere since 1550, spewing out ash that veiled sunshine, also showed up as dry periods in the stalagmite's growth.
For example, an eruption of the Laki volcano in Iceland in 1783, which has also been associated with lower water flows in the Nile, coincided with drought in Belize, they wrote.
Sun-masking pollution cools the northern hemisphere, where most industry is based. That tends to push the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a band of rain encircling the globe, south because it moves towards the warmer hemisphere, they said.
However, the scientists wrote that some unknown natural variations might also provide an explanation for the drying.
In a report published in 2013, a U.N. scientific panel said it was 95 percent likely that greenhouse gases were the main cause of recent global warming.
Many industrialized nations have introduced clean air acts since the 1970s, meaning the world has seen a shift in pollution towards fast-growing emerging nations led by China and India.
"Geographic changes in aerosol emissions should be considered when assessing potential future rainfall shifts in the tropics," they wrote.
Lead author Harriet Ridley of Durham University told Reuters that colleagues had being examining Belize stalagmites for signs of drought about 1,000 years ago, often suggested as the cause of the collapse of the Mayan civilization.
That study is still continuing.
Baitoushan volcano, on China's border with North Korea, had one of the biggest eruptions in history around the year 1000, according to NASA.
(Editing by Crispian Balmer)
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