The Big Read: To build a strong water-saving culture, S'pore needs more than recycled messages

NAVENE ELANGOVAN Today Online 16 Mar 19;

SINGAPORE — Five families roughed it out at Marina Reservoir by surviving on only five litres of water for 12 hours on a cold night on March 1. They were participating in a water-rationing camp run by outdoor recreations company Better Trails.

The camp, which was supported by PUB, was one of several initiatives for the agency's latest water-saving campaign, “Make Every Drop Count”.

Launched on March 2 as part of Singapore World Water Day, it will run for an entire year, making it one of its biggest and longest to date. Previous editions in recent years had lasted a month at most.

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Malaysia: DoE finds waste dumping site

lo tern chern The Star 17 Mar 19;

BUKIT MERTAJAM: While work is underway to clear Sungai Kim Kim in Johor, another case of illegal chemical waste dumping may have been detected deep inside an oil palm estate in Bukit Teh near here.

Located behind a scrapyard and far from the public eye lies approximately 15 barrels of dark pungent liquid.

The Department of Environment (DoE) visited the site after a report was lodged and the site has now been covered with silver metallic sheets.

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Malaysia: Chemical waste pollution in Sg Kim Kim affects livelihood of fishermen

The Star 17 Mar 19;

JOHOR BARU (Bernama): The chemical waste pollution in Pasir Gudang, since March 7, has not only affected the health of people around the region but has led to a decline in catch and fishermen's sales to drop.

South Johor Fishermen's Association chairman, Azli Mohamad Aziz said 650 members of the association from several villages claimed their sales revenue had dropped by 50% over the last 10 days since the incident..

"The pollution has affected 250 fishermen from four villages around Sungai Kim Kim, namely orang asli fisherman from Telok Kabung, Kampung Perigi Aceh, Kampung Pasir Putih and Kampung Pasir Gudang Baru, to whom the river was a source of income," he said when met at the Kampung Pasir Gudang Baru fishermen's market, here Saturday (March 16).

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Malaysia: Schools in Pasir Gudang still closed

Bernama New Straits Times 16 Mar 19;

BANTING: The Education Ministry confirms that 111 schools in the Pasir Gudang district were still closed due to the toxic pollution from the dumping of chemicals into Sungai Kim Kim.

Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said the schools concerned would be reopened at a date to be announced later.

"We look at the situation first. We don’t have a date for the reopening of the schools," he told reporters after officiating the Private Education Open Day at MAHSA University, here, today.

On Wednesday, the ministry directed 111 schools in Pasir Gudang closed following the toxic pollution based on the current situation and feedback from the State Disaster Management Committee.

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