Malaysia: New law to bite back at animal abusers

Joseph Sipalan The Star 22 Feb 13;

PUTRAJAYA: A new law that is ready for tabling in Parliament is about to get nasty with animal abusers.

The Animal Welfare Bill proposes that first time offenders be fined between RM20,000 and RM100,000 or sit behind bars for up to three years.

Commit the crime again, and they will not only be fined up to double the amount imposed for their previous offence, but also face at least three months in jail.

The final draft of the Bill which included several amendments suggested by participants in a series of public engagements was also aimed at more extensive and intensive enforcement of the law, said Veterinary Department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin.

“Animals cannot talk, they cannot take to the streets and hold a demonstration. We need to have something punitive to act as a deterrent (against animal abuse).

“The severity of the penalties was proposed by the public, not just by us,” he said.

Now, the penalty for animal abuse is a fine of up to RM50,000, not more than a year’s jail, or both, following last year’s amendments to the Animal Act 1953.

Prior to the amendments, the penalty was a paltry RM200 fine, six months’ jail or both.

How the new regulations are to be enforced is a major aspect of the final draft, with the proposed creation of Malaysia’s own Animal Cops – a team of officers who will keep a close watch on the treatment of animals.

Unlike the department’s existing enforcement officers – who are only mobilised for specific operations – the animal welfare officers would be on the ground at all times to make sure nobody took advantage of hapless animals, Dr Abdul Aziz said.

“Just like welfare officers, they will inspect and monitor their areas to make sure the law is upheld. There will be no need to wait for cases to be reported before we send people over.

“If, for example, they come across a pet that has not been fed for days, they will have the power to investigate the case and take the owner to court ... so you had better make sure your pet is taken care of before flying off for your holiday,” he added.

Dr Abdul Aziz hoped the Bill could be debated and passed by Parliament this year for it to be gazetted and enforced in 2014.

Groups: Spell out powers of animal welfare officers
Yuen Meikeng The Star 22 Feb 13;

PETALING JAYA: Animal rights groups have welcomed the stricter enforcement on animal abuse in the final draft of the Animal Welfare Bill but want more details about the role of animal welfare officers.

PAWS shelter manager Edward Lim said the Veterinary Services Department should explain the powers of these officers.

“Can they enter someone’s house compound without a warrant? Also, how does one draw the line on what is abuse and what is not?” he asked.

Lim said animal abuse should also be clearly defined because people might have different interpretations.

“I may chain up my dog for a long time and some may view it as abuse but others may not,” he said.

He lauded the proposed fine of between RM20,000 and RM100,000 for first-time animal abusers, describing it as “wonderful news”.

“For a start, the amount is sufficient to deter offenders. However, it should be revised periodically according to current needs,” he said.

Furry Friends Farm president Myza Nordin said the proposal to introduce animal welfare officers was a good step, likening them to policemen making their rounds.

“However, the procedures for taking action should be spelled out. Will they be able to issue compounds for offenders on the spot?” she asked.

She said increasing the fine for animal abuse from a mere RM200 to a minimum of RM20,000 would help prevent animal cruelty.

Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better rescue coordinator Irene Low said the proposal to introduce animal welfare officers was long overdue.

“It is a good idea to have our own version of ‘Animal Cops’. But those selected for the job should be people who are on the ground and have experience in working with animals.

“They should not be those who only know policies by way of theory,” she said.

Animal officers with a bite
New Straits Times 22 Feb 13;

PUTRAJAYA: Animal welfare officers appointed under the proposed Animal Welfare Bill will be given the power to arrest animal abusers.

The proposed law will put some teeth into efforts to curb cruelty against animals in the country, Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Abd Aziz Jamaluddin said yesterday.

"The animal welfare officers can make an arrest and build a case, but the prosecution will be done by the Attorney-General's Chambers."

Aziz said the proposed law would not spare pet owners who forgot to feed or care for their dogs and cats, or other animals that they kept as pets. The animal welfare officers would also work with non-governmental organisations.

The draft law also suggested a fine of between RM20,000 and RM100,000 for animal abuse, and a jail term of not more than three years. Aziz said the quantum of punishment proposed had been suggested by the public, and not the department.

The director-general said pet owners would be made to register their animals and this would be carried out in stages.

He said under the Animal Welfare Bill, premises that conducted activities related to animals, including circuses, pounds, zoos, shops, clinics, animal boarding establishments, safari parks, recreational places, breeding premises and even schools and universities that use animals for research purposes, were required to register with the department.

Their details would be kept in the department's database.

To date, about 3,000 cats, dogs and horses had been registered by their owners via the department and private veterinary clinics.

On the horse meat scandal in Europe, Aziz said Malaysia was not affected.

"In this respect, the public should not have any doubts about the integrity of meat products in Malaysia. The meat products coming in are from abattoirs that have received the department's and Jakim's accreditation," he said.

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Seahorses and Hermaphrodites
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Shaping a loveable liveable Lion City

Can a city of 6.9 million be both liveable and loveable? What goes into making a city liveable anyway?
Grace Chua Straits Times 21 Feb 13;

THE recent Population White Paper had Singapore's planners declaring their aim of making Singapore "a city which is liveable, lively and well-loved".

Singaporeans hear the term "liveability" bandied about - particularly in international rankings of the island-state against other cities. There's even a whole think-tank, the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), dedicated to it under the auspices of the Ministry of National Development.

But what does liveability mean? It depends on whom you're talking to.

International rankings like the Quality of Life ranking by human resources firm Mercer and one from the Economist Intelligence Unit are specifically used to work out how much an international firm might pay employees to live and work in Moscow, Melbourne or Mumbai. These take into account economic strength, political stability, health care, environment, safety, education and transport, among other measures.

These are important, but most people don't pick where to live based on liveability rankings. So liveability needs to be relevant to a wider range of people than business executives.

So what kind of liveable city would appeal to "real" people?

Dr Dietmar Hahlweg, the highly regarded former mayor of the German city of Erlangen, wrote: "The liveable city is a city for all people. That means that the liveable city should be attractive, worthwhile, safe for our children, for our older people, not only for the people who earn money there and then go and live outside in the suburbs and in the surrounding communities."

For one, there needs to be a clearer distinction between "stayability", which is short term, and liveability, which is about how nice a place is for people to live in, to put down roots and call home.

Indeed, speakers of Singapore English often use the words "stay" and "live" interchangeably, as a direct translation from the Malay word "tinggal". In fact, "stay" refers to a short-term stint, while "live" refers to a long-term one.

Hard or soft?

THE ingredients of liveability could be divided into hard and soft ones.

Hard or concrete liveability might mean: Can I get a better job with higher pay? Is the air polluted or clean? Are crime rates low? Can I get a hospital bed when I need one?

Singapore scores well on these indicators. Others include working water pipes and rail lines; energy consumption; economic growth; even levels of corruption or the presence and enforcement of anti-pollution laws and safeguards.

"Soft" liveability could refer to less tangible measures such as cultural tolerance and diversity. Is the city friendly to those who are different? How does it treat those - within and beyond its boundaries - who are less privileged?

Is there income equity, as well as equity of access to decision-making? (An analogy: If you are a transient renter, you don't get to have much say in what colour you paint the walls. But if you own your home, you get a say within your household on what goes on the walls, how you want the furniture to be arranged and so on.)

Five years ago, the CLC commissioned the more comprehensive Global Liveable Cities Index, comprising measures of economic vibrancy, environmental friendliness and sustainability, social harmony and cultural diversity, security and governance.

In that index, income equality, social harmony and cultural diversity are measured by things like the Gini coefficient, a measure of the gap between the wealthiest and poorest; by the percentage of foreigners or immigrants, by the number of religions and by attitudes towards foreign visitors.

National University of Singapore associate professor Tan Khee Giap, who led the development of the index, explained that the index is useful for governments to gauge how they fare and where they need to improve.

While progress on hard liveability measures is usually quite clear, some soft liveability goals contradict each other. For example, cultural or heritage elements make neighbourhoods like Chinatown or Tiong Bahru authentic, which make them desirable.

But when a neighbourhood becomes too desirable, driving up home prices, the resulting gentrification as wealthier residents move in can drive out the very elements, such as incense shops or traditional bakeries, that make them authentic and desirable in the first place.

Whatever their use, liveability rankings only go so far. Rankings, after all, pit cities against each other - comparing Zurich to Hong Kong, Manila to Teheran.

For those who live there, what's more important is how liveable the city is over time - whether the quality of life progresses or deteriorates.

And a city can have a high standard of living, but a poor quality of social life.

Liveable or loveable?

OR AS Nominated Member of Parliament Janice Koh asked in Parliament recently: "It is one thing to build a liveable city. The harder question is: How do we build a loveable one?"

Fellow NMP Faizah Jamal suggested that "well-being goes beyond gross domestic product growth". Instead, "it is about fulfilling careers, emotional security, equitable distribution of wealth, affordable housing, health care and education, and factors in the existence of places that evoke childhood memories, natural spaces and access to these places".

That suggests people yearn for a sense of place in their hometown - spaces and buildings that connect them to their past even as the city forges on to the future.

If you merely stay somewhere, you might not mind if the landlord comes in to renovate or repaint, since you aren't going to be there long. But if you have settled on a permanent abode, constant change is like someone barging in to renovate your home and change the furniture every year.

There is a fine line, perhaps different for different people, between progress and disorientation.

Apart from giving people a sense of ownership, a loveable city might be one which is child-friendly. Or as urban planning consultant Suzanne Crowhurst Lennard of the International Making Cities Liveable Council in Oregon notes, that does not mean playgrounds or enrichment centres, but "walkability" that allows children to explore their built and natural environment independently.

Check in on your neighbours

THEN there is resilience, another component of making a city loveable.

In a 1995 Chicago heatwave, two equally low-income neighbourhoods were a study in contrasts: in one, a dying neighbourhood with little social cohesion, lonely older men died alone of the heat, as there was no one to look in on them.

In the other, neighbours and church members went door to door to check on each other, and it had the same mortality rate as a much richer neighbourhood.

Singapore may technically be able to house 6.9 million people not unpleasantly, but would neighbours, so recently strangers, look out for each other if another Sars epidemic hit?

Infrastructure and technology can help promote such soft liveability.

For instance, instead of "checking in" to locations on Facebook or Foursquare, can you literally check in with your neighbours on an app from the local community development council?

In a hometown, one might also want a sense of autonomy and control over what happens, and the speed of what happens. Today, there are several not-in- my-backyard protests over the prospective development of space for nursing homes, for example. Protesters are spurred by a sense that the city is developing too fast around them.

Planners could do more to plan for unplanned space. What does that mean? Today, there are open fields such as in Old Holland Road and Marina Bay, where people fly kites and remote-controlled planes or play soccer or cricket until planning authorities decide they should be used for something else. And at the Kreta Ayer town square in Chinatown, older men sit and play Chinese chess and line-dancing groups go through their routines. At least a few of these unplanned spaces should be dedicated spaces for such activities, not interim empty space.

Just as a stable political climate encourages investment, a stable spatial climate could encourage social investment in the community, with people coming up with new and creative temporary uses of the space instead of protesting when it is to be turned into nursing homes or new blocks.

In the end, liveability measures are static snapshots that assume people are passive consumers of their city.

But "city-zens" have the autonomy to shape a city: to plant trees, start new businesses and invent new technologies, organise volunteers to cook for lonely old folk, start running groups that pick up trash as they go.

When people feel they care enough to make their common space a better one for themselves and their neighbours, that is when a city becomes loveable.

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HDB to fund green ideas for its estates

Daryl Chin Straits Times 21 Feb 13;

THE Housing Board is providing funding of up to $100,000 to spur the development and testing of green ideas for its estates.

The money for this first-ever initiative will come from a $1 million Greenprint fund that was launched yesterday.

The ideas need to be original and revolve around areas such as saving water and electricity, increasing recycling rates, reducing heat in the environment and improving the quality of life.

The test-bedding site is in Yuhua, specifically Blocks 209 to 240 along Jurong East Street 21.

"This provides anyone, from industry experts and students to ordinary members of the public, with the chance to put their great green ideas into action and see them developed," said the HDB.

Ideas that prove to be workable after testing could be implemented in other towns, it added.

Interested participants can apply on their own or form a team of up to five members. They can also be companies or schools.

Proposals will be evaluated by a panel of experts from the HDB, among others, who will also determine the grant amount.

Environment consultant Eugene Tay said the initiative will help raise awareness of eco-issues. "When residents see the actual solutions being implemented in their backyard, they will have a better sense of what it takes to save the environment and in turn try to pitch in," he added.

He is optimistic that the "substantial" funding will help generate good ideas.

Applications, which have opened on the HDB website, will close on May 20.

The projects will run till next year and the HDB will also gather feedback from Yuhua residents.

The latest move is part of the HDB Greenprint, which was announced in October last year.

So far, various activities are already up and running for residents in Yuhua.

For example, the HDB is working with vendors to sell energy-saving appliances such as air-conditioners, refrigerators and lighting fixtures to residents at discounted rates.

The board is also implementing by next year a pneumatic system that sucks rubbish from flats to a central collection point via an underground network of pipes.

Under another programme, the HDB has also committed some $15 million to put up solar panels in areas like Punggol.

The energy is used to power facilities such as lifts, lights in corridors and staircases, as well as water pumps.

The hope is to test-bed such technology in 200 public housing blocks by 2015.

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Malaysia: RM35m allocation for viaduct to link forests

New Straits Times 21 Feb 13;

IPOH: The Federal Government has approved a RM35 million to build a viaduct for the Central Forest Spine (CSF) project.

The viaduct will serve as an as an ecological link and provide safe passage for animals between their habitats.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the federal authority was expected to call for a tender soon.

"We expect it (the project) to be completed in about two years after the tender is awarded," he said after chairing the state executive council meeting here yesterday.

The CFS is a master plan to ensure animals and plants in the country can continue to thrive for future generations.

Under the plan, the forest complexes will be connected through a network of 37 linkages to form a 5.3 million hectare forest complex. These linkages will allow animals to roam freely from north to south of the peninsula.

The four forest complexes are Titiwangsa-Bintang-Nakawan Range; National Park to Eastern Range; Southeast Pahang Swamp Forest, Tasik Chini and Tasik Bera; and Endau Rompin National Park-Kluang Wildlife Reserve.

Perak has, to date, gazetted about 20,000ha of the the Lower Belum Forest along the Grik-Jeli Highway as a permanent forest reserve under the CFS.

"This if proof of our seriousness to the Federal Government's initiative," Zambry said, adding that the state had engaged experts to help ensure the success of the project.

"We have obtained positive feedback on how we can go about developing a safe environment for the wildlife.

"They have even suggested the kind of plants we can grow as a food source."

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Indonesia announces shark, manta ray sanctuary

(AFP) Google News 20 Feb 13;

JAKARTA — Indonesia has announced a new shark and manta ray sanctuary, the first to protect the species in the rich marine ecosystem of the Coral Triangle, known as the "Amazon of the ocean".

Environmentalists Wednesday welcomed the creation of the 46,000-square-kilometre (18,000-square-mile) protection zone, in an area at risk from both overfishing and climate change.

The local government in Raja Ampat on the western tip of New Guinea island announced the move this week, issuing local regulations to ban the finning and fishing of sharks in the area, a tourist destination popular with divers.

Rizal Algamar, Indonesia director of the Nature Conservancy, described the regulations in a joint statement with Conservation International as a "breakthrough in policy".

"Scientific evidence states that the value of live sharks and manta rays far outweighs the one-time profit of dead sharks and manta rays, benefiting a growing world-class and increasingly popular marine tourism and dive destination," he said.

Scientists have warned the Coral Triangle, which spreads across a vast area of Southeast Asia's waters, is under threat, with heat-trapping carbon gases blamed for creating acidic seas hostile to much marine life.

Overfishing has also been a problem, but the sanctuary will support existing no-take zones that have helped shark numbers slowly recover.

"Sharks in particular play an important role, as apex predators at the top of the food chain, maintaining fisheries and ecosystem health," the statement said.

The sanctuary is also expected to prevent a drop in manta ray numbers, with the species' gills increasingly used in Asian medicines.

Shark populations are in a rapid and steep decline worldwide, facing intense pressure from fishing and in high demand for shark fin soup.

Up to 73 million sharks are killed annually, mostly for their fins, the statement said. As a result, many shark species have suffered declines greater than 75 percent and in some species up to 90 percent or more.

Indonesia ranks as the world's largest exporter of sharks and rays.

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India: Olive Ridley Turtles mass nesting begins in Odisha coast

zeenews.india.com 20 Feb 13;

Berhampur: A record number of over 3 lakh Olive Ridley turtles have laid eggs in Odisha coast within a span of only one week, officials said today.

This time the turtles mostly laid their eggs near the river Rushikulya mouth in Ganjam district, about 60 km from here.

The mass nesting of turtles began in Rushikulya river mouth on February 13. Last year, the turtles had congregated for mass nesting at the Rushikulya beach on February 29.

While around 2.60 lakh turtles had laid eggs in the Rushikulya rookery in 2008-09. Last year, 1.07 lakh turtles nested the beach.

"This time, they broke the previous record and over three lakh Olive Ridley Turtles laid eggs so far," said divisional forest officer, Berhampur S S Mishra. Despite rains lashed in the area on Sunday evening,over 8,700 Olive Ridley turtles laid eggs in the wee hours of Monday, he said.

Since some more turtles were floating in the sea, DFO said the nesting was likely to continue for some more days.

The Olive Ridleys, listed under Schedule 1 of the endangered species list, nested in two places this time. While around 2.50 lakh were nested in the 3.50-km long Sandbar between Kantiagada and Podampeta, another 50,000 turtles nested near Purunabandh area, he said.

Mass nesting of the Olive ridley started today followed by the sporadic nesting in the area.

Clean nesting sites and conducive atmosphere are some of the reasons attributed to the record number of Olive Ridleys visited the rookery for nesting, experts said.

This time, the turtles started nesting about a fortnight earlier in the rookery, forest officials said.

Forest officials made elaborate arrangements for smooth and safe nesting of the turtles. The entire area was divided into 32 sectors. Forest personnel and local volunteers have been deployed in each sector for counting the eggs.

They also provided protections to the eggs in absent of their mother turtles, said DFO.

After laying eggs, the female turtles go to the deep sea without waiting to see the hatchels, which generally emerged around 45 days of the nesting.

"The local people in the area are cooperating with the forest personnel to protect the eggs," said Rabindra Nath Sahu secretary of the Rushikulya Sea Turtles Protection Committee.

Besides Rushikulya river mouth, the turtles also nest in Gahiramatha beach and Devi river mouth in the state. But the mass nesting in other two places are yet to start.

PTI

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After China's multibillion-dollar cleanup, water still unfit to drink

David Stanway PlanetArk 21 Feb 13;

China aims to spend $850 billion to improve filthy water supplies over the next decade, but even such huge outlays may do little to reverse damage caused by decades of pollution and overuse in Beijing's push for rapid economic growth.

China is promising to invest 4 trillion yuan ($650 billion) - equal to its entire stimulus package during the global financial crisis - on rural water projects alone during the 2011-2020 period. What's more, at least $200 billion in additional funds has been earmarked for a variety of cleanup projects nationwide, Reuters has learned after scouring a range of central and local government documents.

That new cash injection will be vital, with rivers and lakes throughout China blighted by algae blooms caused by fertilizer run-off, bubbling chemical spills and untreated sewage discharges. Judging by Beijing's cleanup record so far, however, the final tally could be many times higher.

Over the five years to 2010, the country spent 700 billion yuan ($112.41 billion) on water infrastructure, but much of its water remains undrinkable. The environment ministry said 43 percent of the locations it was monitoring in 2011 contained water that was not even fit for human contact.

"The reason why they have achieved so little even though they have spent so much on pollution treatment is because they have followed the wrong urbanization model - China is still putting too much pressure on local resources," said Zhou Lei, a fellow at Nanjing University who has studied water pollution.

A close look at publicly available documents shows limited environmental ambitions, as Beijing strives to prolong three decades of blistering economic growth and fill the estimated annual water supply shortfall of 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) required to feed growing energy and agricultural demand.

At the same time, the government faces growing pressure to address environmental effects of fast growth, as public anger over air pollution that blanketed many northern cities in January has spread to online appeals for Beijing to clean up water supplies as well.

The huge costs suggest that treatment, rather than prevention, remains the preferred solution, with industrial growth paramount and pollution regarded as just another economic opportunity, Zhou said.

"They always treat environmental degradation as an economic issue. China is even using pollution as a resource, and using the opportunity to treat environmental degradation as a way to accumulate new wealth," he said, referring to business contracts local governments offer to big water treatment firms.

"INDUSTRIAL-USE ONLY"

On top of the 10-year rural water plan, China last year vowed to spend another 250 billion yuan on water conservation, and has since allocated a further 130 billion yuan to treat small and medium-sized rivers over the next two years.

Local governments are also spending heavily, with Dianchi Lake in southwest China's Yunnan province being lavished with 31 billion yuan of investment in the next three years in order to produce "obvious improvements" in water quality, records show.

East China's Lake Tai, a test case for China's environmental authorities after suffering a notorious bloom of algae and cyanobacteria in 2007, has spent 70 billion yuan in the five years since, and more is expected.

Both cleanup projects have been designed merely to bring water up from "grade V" - meaning "no human contact" - to "grade IV", which is designated "industrial use only", according to detailed plans listed on local government websites.

Even such negligible gains could be crucial for a country that has the same amount of water as Britain although its population is 20 times as big.

Data from China's Ministry of Water Resources shows that average per capita supplies stand at 2,100 cubic meters, 28 percent of the global average. The government has vowed to cap total use to 700 bcm a year by 2030, but that will still require a big increase in supplies, with consumption now about 600 bcm.

Costly engineering and technological feats, though unlikely to address the underlying causes of pollution, could at least make more water available, allowing marginal quality improvements without interfering with industrial growth or the country's ambitious and water-intense urbanization plans.

"Part of this increase in the supply of water will come from removing all 'grade V' water supplies, which is actually useless even for agriculture," said Debra Tan, director at the China Water Risk organization. "Grade IV is not safe to swim in, but it at least is usable." ($1 = 6.2270 Chinese yuan)

(Editing by Ken Wills)

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Best of our wild blogs: 20 Feb 13

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PM Lee, PM Najib launch three projects in Johor

S Ramesh Channel NewsAsia 19 Feb 13;

JOHOR BAHRU: The Prime Ministers of Singapore and Malaysia launched two wellness projects in Medini at Iskandar Malaysia and a mixed development project at Danga Bay in Johor Bahru on Tuesday.

Fresh from the launch of joint development projects in Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak travelled to neighbouring Johor Bahru where the two wellness developments were unveiled.

Afiniti Medini, an urban wellness project, is aimed at becoming a regional destination for families, tourists and professionals. It features a wellness centre, service apartments, a corporate training centre and retail space. Afinity Medini is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

Both leaders also launched Avira, another resort wellness project at Medini Central which will have homes, serviced apartments and commercial space. The development is expected to be completed in 2018.

The two projects are jointly developed by Khazanah Nasional and Temasek Holdings.

Medini is among the five flagship zones at Iskandar Malaysia and is a 40-minute drive to the Central Business District in Singapore.

Both projects will have a total gross development value of three billion ringgit.

Mr Najib acknowledged that the success of the Iskandar project has exceeded the original plans and there has been a significant increase in investments from Singapore companies in Iskandar Malaysia.

Mr Najib said: "We both agree that we should develop something which develops the true meaning of the word "iconic" and from what I can see it befits the description. This will be truly an iconic and and landmark project which will certainly bring much benefit not only to those people involved in this project and users of this projects, but also indicative of the growing stronger ties of the two countries.

"I would say there is a significant increase of investments from Singapore. During our bilateral discussions this morning, we stressed the importance of the Industrial Working Group to meet on regular basis to encourage investors from Singapore to relocate their investments here, as well as for new investments to take place here in Iskandar."

Mr Lee said: "This is going to be an oasis not only for people from Malaysia or Singapore, but perhaps from all over the region to come and recharge their batteries, enjoy the environment and absorb the spirit of wellness."

He said the Malaysian government had shown commitment and drive to develop Iskandar Malaysia.

Mr Lee said: "A lot of investments have come in from the government, a lot of investment has come in from the private sector and significant amount of that has come from Singapore.

"I believe there is a lot of potential because from Singapore's point of view, we are developing and at the same time, there is a lot of spillover of what Singapore companies which want to expand or companies which want to come to Singapore but can't quite fit into Singapore. I think Iskandar offers a prime opportunity for them.

"As long as the Malaysian government pursues this to develop Iskandar and to link up with Singapore, the prospects are very good and from Singapore's point of view, we are very happy it is going to succeed."

Also launched on Tuesday is a 3.2 billion ringgit joint venture project in Danga Bay - a 20-minute drive from the Causeway.

Mr Najib and Mr Lee witnessed the signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding by CapitaLand, Iskandar Waterfront and Temasek Holdings.

- CNA/fa/de

Next step: Drawing up maritime boundaries
Straits Times 20 Feb 13;

SINGAPORE and Malaysia will draw up maritime boundaries around the disputed areas of Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge, as the next step in their move to close the book on their territorial dispute.

This development follows the completion of a hydrographic survey last year by their joint technical committee, which was set up to implement a 2008 International Court of Justice decision on the disputed territory.

Its completion was welcomed yesterday by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The next step would be for the committee to move into the delimitation of maritime boundaries, they said in a joint statement after their fourth leaders' retreat.

Progress was also made on several other bilateral fronts, noted the statement.

The first phase of an engineering study into a rapid transit link between Johor Baru and the Republic Polytechnic MRT station of the forthcoming Thomson Line in Singapore has been completed, it said.

At a joint press conference yesterday, PM Lee said details - such as if the rapid transit link will be underground or overhead - will be revealed soon, hopefully before the next leaders' retreat next year.

The Joint Ministerial Committee on Iskandar Malaysia is also studying how to ease traffic congestion on the Causeway, and the feasibility of a "third road link" between the two countries in the longer term.

The statement touched on Singapore's water supply from Malaysia too, noting that both prime ministers "encouraged the Singapore and Johor water authorities to continue their excellent working relationship".

In addition, they endorsed both countries' resolve to expand the frequencies for Long Term Evolution (LTE), or 4G, mobile services.

These frequencies will be freed up as they move their TV services from analogue to digital broadcasting.

Close cooperation between the civil service of both countries and the importance of adopting best practices to address areas of environment concern were also noted in the statement.

It concluded by underscoring both prime ministers' support of Asean and its "central role in the region's evolving architecture".

They expressed confidence in its progress towards the goal of creating an Asean Community through economic integration and people-to-people links by 2015.

Malaysia, S'pore ties set to soar with projects
New Straits Times 20 Feb 13;

JOINT-VENTURE BOOSTS: State investment arms of both countries involved in projects worth multi-billion ringgit

DATUK Seri Najib Razak arrived in the island republic yesterday to begin a visit that will mark the beginning of a new era in bilateral relations between Malaysia and Singapore.

For the first time, the state investment arms of both countries -- Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Singapore's Temasek Holdings Ltd -- will be involved in mega joint venture projects with multi-billion ringgit in gross development value (GDV), bringing bilateral economic cooperation to greater heights.

The buzz is especially apparent in Johor, where another feather will be added to the Iskandar Malaysia cap, to the tune of RM11 billion in GDV.

The prime minister and his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, will launch the 2ha "urban wellness" project in Medini North with a groundbreaking ceremony.

They will also unveil the name and logo for the project, which involves a five-storey building housing a spa, a training centre, gymnasium, shops and the like.

Khazanah and Temasek are also involved in the "resort wellness" project in Medini Central with an estimated GDV of RM3 billion.

The project, covering more than 80ha, will see houses, condominiums, apartments and shops being built.

Also in Johor, Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd and two Singapore government-linked companies will jointly develop 28ha strategically located at Danga Bay with a GDV of RM8 billion.

Earlier in the day, the two prime ministers will unveil the model of a project by M+S Pte Ltd, a 60:40 joint venture between Khazanah and Temasek to develop projects in Marina South and Ophir-Rochor in Singapore.

The progress of the three Khazanah-Temasek projects are the focus of the 4th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat this time around.

Also on the agenda is the discussion of the recently concluded technical study regarding a Rapid Transit System (RTS) rail link that will connect Johor Baru and Singapore.

Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, who spoke to reporters prior to the start of the retreat yesterday, said a Joint Engineering Study (JES) by both countries on the RTS had been commissioned and completed in November.

Both governments have been given 12 months since that time to decide whether they would want to move into phase two of the study.

The first phase of this study involved the identification of alignment and station scheme options with a detailed assessment for the overall transport system.

A rapid transport system by rail is seen as a boon for those residing on both sides of the Causeway, as commuters who travel daily between the two cities number in the hundreds of thousands.

"Both governments have up to 12 months to decide on the preferred options before JES Phase 2 can commence," said Anifah.

The idea for an RTS between the two cities has been floating around for some time and, if it is set up, would be linked up with Singapore's mass rapid transit system.

The RTS is among three projects outlined under the implementation of the Points of Agreement (POA) on Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd land in Singapore.

With 10 ministers and Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman as part of Najib's working visit, Anifah said many other discussions were expected to be held in the 11/2-day retreat.

The Malaysian delegation will discuss further on initiatives that were outlined during the last retreat in Putrajaya on Jan 15 last year.

Anifah said discussions on various cooperation under the Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia were part of the itinerary.

"Discussion will delve into the fields of transport, tourism, immigration and industrial cooperation. Both sides will further explore new initiatives between Malaysia and Singapore at all levels."

Anifah said bilateral ties between both nations were excellent and were expected to be further boosted during the retreat.

Najib, who arrived by flight in Singapore at 4pm yesterday, was welcomed by Anifah and Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam.

Later, he and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, attended a private dinner hosted by Lee and his wife at the Fullerton Bay Hotel.

Deal on RM8.1b Danga Bay project inked
Ben Tan and Rizalman Hammim New Straits Times 20 Feb 13;

JOHOR BARU: Iskandar Waterfront Sdn Bhd (IWSB), CapitaLand Malaysia Pte Ltd and Singapore's state investment arm Temasek Holdings Ltd signed a "heads of agreement" yesterday to jointly acquire and develop parcels of land in Danga Bay here for a planned RM8.1 billion mixed integrated development.

The deal is considered the biggest entry into Johor's Iskandar Malaysia by Singaporean investors.

Yesterday's signing ceremony, held at the Danga Bay Convention Centre here, was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Singapore counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong.

Present were Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman and Temasek chief executive officer Ho Ching.

CapitaLand Malaysia was represented by its president and group chief executive officer, Lim Ming Yan, Temasek by its senior managing director for investments, David Heng, and IWSB by its managing director, Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo.

The Johor government, through Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ), the investment and project implementation arm of the state, has substantial interest in IWSB.

CapitaLand Malaysia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Limited, which is one of Asia's largest real estate companies. This marks the first direct large-scale township investment and development in Malaysia by CapitaLand.

The agreement is subject to detailed terms and conditions and has yet to be finalised.

The joint venture will acquire 3.1 million sq ft (28.5ha) of freehold land in A2 Island for RM811 million. Ca-pitaLand Malaysia will have a 51 per cent stake, followed by IWSB (40 per cent) and Temasek (nine per cent).

Ghani, who is KPRJ chairman, described the venture with CapitaLand and Temasek as a "landmark deal" which would spur other major regional players to relook investment opportunities in Iskandar Malaysia.

"This joint venture with two of Singapore's reputable partners will give confidence to others waiting on the sidelines that investment in Iskandar Malaysia is an opportunity not to be missed."

He said this was an example of the "feel good sentiment" that was now prevailing on both sides of the border, thanks to the hard work of both Najib and Lee in strengthening bilateral ties.

Lim said work on the project would begin early next year.

"We are confident this joint venture will draw others to explore investment opportunities in the Danga Bay waterfront city development. IWSB will be assured of a constant stream of recurring income."

IWSB is the master developer of 1,600ha of prime waterfront land here. The land bank includes 800ha in Danga Bay and strategic parcels within the Johor Baru city centre, the Tebrau coast in the eastern corridor of the city and Desaru in the east coast of Johor.

IWSB is actively seeking strategic local and foreign partners to develop high-impact projects and create new business and tourist destinations within its proposed waterfront city.

About 220ha have already been acquired by investors. They include Dijaya Corp Bhd, China's Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd, Australia's Walker Corp and Brunsfield Group.

CapitaLand Malaysia will undertake the lead in the development of A2 Island.

The project will be developed over 10-12 years.

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Students invited to submit short videos on climate change

Sharon See Channel NewsAsia 19 Feb 13;

SINGAPORE: The National Climate Change Secretariat is inviting students to submit short videos to inspire Singaporeans to take action against climate change.

This follows last year's short film competition that had students submitting videos on Singapore becoming a climate change resilient city.

The theme this year is "Be the Change. It Starts with You.".

The winning entries will be uploaded on the secretariat's YouTube channel or possibly used for broadcast.

At the launch event, the secretariat also gave out prizes to those who won last year's Technology Project Challenge.

Coming in first in the tertiary category was Tay Xyian Xiet, a mechanical engineering undergraduate from National University of Singapore, with an innovation that can improve energy efficiency in air-conditioning systems by first lowering humidity levels.

Tay said: "Our human comfort is determined by two things - temperature and the humidity levels. Even though in Singapore, it is the same temperature as let's say Australia, it actually feels much hotter here because our humidity level is much higher, around say 80 per cent, while Australia's is 60 per cent. We can actually save energy if we can dry the air without cooling it. It is able to make us equally comfortable and at the same time save energy."

- CNA/fa

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Is cloud seeding preventing further flooding in Indonesia?

Scientists claim rainfall has reduced since the project began, but experts call for more evidence
Dyna Rochmyaningsih guardian.co.uk 19 Feb 13;

Indonesia is banking on an unusual strategy to prevent further flooding in its inundated capital Jakarta, and officials claim that they are already seeing positive results.

They are using 'cloud seeding' — a weather modification technology often resorted to during drought. The method involves injecting clouds with substances that encourage the formation of ice crystals heavy enough to fall, thereby speeding up the production of rain.

Rain is the last thing that Indonesia needs now, as it has been experiencing heavy rainfall since mid-January.

But Indonesian scientists believe that inducing rains to fall over the ocean before the rainclouds reach the city will help prevent further flooding in Jakarta.

"We are mimicking nature. It is easy to make rain in most clouds above the sea. We found out that salt from sea water, which evaporates from the sea, accelerates the rain process because it encourages the cloud particles to adsorb water," Tri Handoko Seto, a top official of the Weather Modification Technical Unit of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, tells SciDev.Net.

Last month (26 January), military planes carrying tonnes of salt started the cloud seeding operation scattering salt onto rainclouds across the ocean. The operation is expected to last two months.

The operation has come into the national spotlight recently because of the Indonesian government's claims that it had succeeded in decreasing Jakarta's rainfall rate, particularly from 26­-29 January when local meteorologists had predicted heavier rains and flooding.

"We have conducted an evaluation using the data in our radar device, which records cloud development and movement. From our analysis, cloud seeding contributed to the decrease of rainfall in Jakarta during this period," says Seto.

But Zev Levin, chair in atmospheric physics at Tel Aviv University in Israel, says that it is difficult to prove how much rain would have fallen before reaching the city had the clouds not been seeded.

To prove the effectiveness of cloud seeding, Levin says, well designed experiments must be conducted based on robust statistical design with an unseeded control area and random allocation of seeding.

"In this case, Indonesia can't prove the success of their cloud seeding operation because they have no control area," says Levin.

He adds that cloud seeding in Indonesia will do nothing or very little to modify the weather because tropical clouds are not easy to modify.

"The dynamics of the clouds dominate the rain process and any attempt to modify it will only play secondary role at best," says Levin.

But Seto defends their programme and says that they will submit their work for publication in international journals to refute claims that their operations are not scientific.

Scientists produced the first evidence that cloud seeding can boost long-term rainfall in 2009. But they also urged caution over the technique due to unrealistic claims about its success and difficulties faced in comparing clouds to prove if the technique really works.

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