Tasnim Lokman New Straits Times 29 Apr 19;
PUTRAJAYA: The Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry is in the midst of drafting a uniform and comprehensive Water Resources Bill to clamp down on water pollution.
Its minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the bill would empower all states to enhance the management, control and enforcement of their water resources.
He said the new legislation would also be a guide for discussions and coordination on issues involving water resources that are shared by two or more states.
Xavier said pollution was harder to tackle when it involves multiple parties.
“This proposed law requires the support and acceptance of all state governments to ensure that issues such as river pollution can be handled uniformly and effectively.
"The Ministry is currently holding consultations with state governments on the implementation of this bill," he said in a statement today.
Xavier said the bill was among the initiatives taken by the government to address the problem of water resource pollution nationwide.
He was responding to Berita Harian's exclusive report yesterday that quoted Water Quality and Modelling specialist Dr Zaki Zainudin who stated that there were no efforts to save or rehabilitate more than 20 rivers classified under Class three.
The rivers, he said in the report, needed intensive treatment or would likely end up dead soon if continued to be ignored. These rivers were suffering the same fate as Sungai Kim Kim in Johor.
Xavier said aside from the new law, the ministry had also undertaken other initiatives, including implementing structural approaches and non-structural approaches.
He said the ministry, through the Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID), had taken structural approaches such as building infrastructure to treat the quality of river water and also installing log booms at several locations of main rivers.
As for non-structural approaches, he said the ministry had launched the Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) strategy.
The strategy was aimed at ensuring that water was adequate and clean, decreasing flood risks and improving environmental conservation.
Xavier said based on Environmental Quality Report 2017, 32 rivers out of 417 rivers monitored by the Environment Department were classified as contaminated rivers.
As land and water resources, including rivers, were under the jurisdiction of the state governments, he said law enforcement also fell under them.
“All states have their own laws regarding water resources, including on prohibition of pollution.
“The cooperation of the state government in carrying out the law enforcement or state enactments is crucial in protecting the rivers in those states,” he said.
Xavier added that all stakeholders must also be involved in efforts to conserve and preserve the quality of river water, as there were adverse consequences should water resources continue to be polluted.
