Malaysia: Turtle eggs on sale at Serikin market

Sim Bak Heng New Straits Times 10 Jul 13

ILLEGAL TRADE: Foreign traders make a quick buck on weekends

KUCHING: THE popular Serikin weekend market at the Sarawak-West Kalimantan border here now has a reputation for its illegal sale of turtle eggs.

Turtle egg traders from Sambas district across the border would drive two hours to Serikin during the weekends to make a quick profit before returning to their country.

Depending on the season, 13 small-sized eggs would be sold at RM10 and medium-sized ones would be sold at RM11.

These eggs are cheaper than in Terengganu, where 10 eggs go for RM25.

A check by the New Straits Times showed that traders would approach visitors in the market car park.

In the past, female traders would keep the eggs in their handbags to evade the authorities, but now, they carry plastic bags, with smaller bags containing samples inside.

The traders also kept eggs stashed nearby in hidden locations.

They would collect the eggs only when customers requested for more.

The traders would see ask visitors: "Telur?" or they would make the "O" sign with the index finger and thumb to indicate the product.

The most common species of turtle eggs traded are the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate).

The sale and consumption of all turtle eggs is banned in Sabah and Sarawak.

In Terengganu, only the sale and consumption of leatherback turtle eggs is prohibited.

The National Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sea Turtles, which was established in 2008, calls for the total ban on the sale and consumption of turtle eggs.

A trader, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was competitive these days.

He said some traders were offering more eggs for the same price to attract buyers.

"As I source my eggs from a supplier, I cannot offer too many eggs. Doing so will hit my profits.

"After all, selling the eggs is risky for us."

Checks also showed that there were six people plying the trade in the car park.

However, there could be more traders selling at stalls that line both sides of the road at the market.

Some traders display the eggs to compete with those in the car park, while others discreetly solicit passers-by.

Potential customers would be led to discreet locations behind the stalls, where paper boxes of eggs, which were available in the hundreds, would be shown to them.

Malaysia Nature Society (MNS) council member Vincent Chow said the national plan of action was well implemented nationwide, with the exception of Sabah.

Under the plan, it is clearly indicated that the harvest of turtle eggs for consumption or commercial use should be banned in all states.

"MNS is of the view that every state should review its policy on sea turtle conservation, which may not be relevant any more.

"A good conservation policy discourages people from eating turtle eggs and not otherwise."

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Indonesia: Riau ends haze emergency response

Antara 9 Jul 13;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Riau Province has ended forest fire and haze emergency response and is currently entering a transitional period for recovery.

"Since July 6, the emergency status has been revoked, and now is the transitional period for recovery," Agus Wibowo, a spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB)`s Haze Emergency Response Task Force, said here on Tuesday.

The Indonesian government had declared an emergency response status for Riau as of June 21 due to forest, peatland and plantation fires that had produced haze blanketing parts of Sumatra Island, Singapore and Malaysia.

The task force is currently trying to extinguish fires in Siak, Bengkalis and Dumai Districts, Riau Province. The NOAA 18 Satellite detected only three fire hotspots early this week.

"The task force`s focus is on Chevron area in Duri now. All helicopters and members of the Marine have been directed there," he said.

Around 2,000 members of the rapid reaction unit will return to Jakarta on June 21, 2013.

Vice Governor of Riau Mambang Mit has expressed his appreciation to those being involved in the fight against the fires, particularly personnel of the BNPB, the Agency for the Development and Application of Technology (BPPT), the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and the National Police (Polri).

Meanwhile, the Police of Riau have arrested 23 suspects in connection with forest and peat land fires in the province.

Spokesperson of the Riau Police Command, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Hermansyah, said recently that two more suspects had been arrested following reports from local people making the number of the suspects to reach 23 who are all now under police detention.

The last two suspects namely Ham, arrested in Tanjung Leba Village, Bukit Batu Subdistrict of Bengkalis and BA, arrested in Sang Kemang Village, Koto Gasib Subdistrict of Siak District.

The 23 suspects have allegedly caused forest and land fires in 15 areas located in some districts in the Riau Province.(*)

Editor: Heru

Govt has spent Rp 57.7b on fighting fires in Riau
The Jakarta Post 9 Jul 13;

The government has spent Rp 57.7 billion (US$5.8 million) on the operation to extinguish land and forest fires in Riau since the haze emergency response-status came into effect in June.

“The funds that have been spent amount to Rp 57.7 billion,” said the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB) spokesperson for the haze emergency-response working group, Agus Wibowo, on Tuesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

The emergency-response status was announced on June 21 after Indonesia’s two immediate neighbors, Malaysia and Singapore, were badly affected by smoke and haze from raging land and forest fires in Riau.

“Around 2,000 personnel, mostly military and police members, have been deployed to tackle the haze disaster,” said Agus, adding that the personnel would be withdrawn on July 21.

He said funds remained available for forest fire extinguishing operations as the allocated reserve funds amounted to Rp 70 billion.

Agus said the budget was mostly spent on cloud seeding which cost Rp 20 billion. The deployment of police and military personnel cost up to Rp 10 billion.

Haze clouds are no longer affecting the two neighboring countries. Riau is now in a transition period of recovery as it has passed through the haze disaster response period.

However, the extinguishing process is still ongoing in several areas in northern Riau, such as Bengkalis, Dumai and Siak regencies. According to the results of the latest observation activities via the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites, hot spots are now detected in only three spots. (ebf)

Less haze in Singapore as the cause becomes clearer and more complex
e! Science News 8 Jul 13;

Small and large-scale farmers in Riau province, Sumatra, have been blamed for the recent choking smoke smothering Singapore and parts of Malaysia. But scientists in Indonesia have added a third category of 'mid-level entrepreneurs'. These entrepreneurs buy unregulated access to land for oil palm and clear it by burning, seemingly unrestrained by government. Scientists at the World Agroforestry Centre, who have been studying land conversion in Sumatra, say they have identified this third group of local land investors who operate outside the government system, making them potentially more difficult to regulate.

These people acquire land under informal rules at village level, effectively sidestepping the Government land-use system. They bring in their own labour to clear the land for oil palm, regardless of the land's formal government status and in the absence of any permits to do so.

Policies and policing need to be adjusted to deal with the newly identified group if the annual fires and subsequent haze are to be reduced. Holding plantation companies accountable for the fires within their boundaries would help reduce the problem but not extinguish it.

About half of the fire 'hot spots' in Riau province are on land with legal permits for large-scale operations (industrial timber, oil palm and logging). The rest occur as part of illegal activities, in areas which have been slated for conservation or non-production.

These hot spots are mostly concentrated in three districts within Riau province. Some neighbouring districts with similar conditions have so far avoided the problem this year, which suggests that lessons might be learnt about governance.

The fire-haze episode straddling the Strait of Malacca in June 2013 has reignited a decades-long debate about responsibility. In the current debate, finger pointing still alternates between the small- and large-scale agricultural operators. The latter include companies with headquarters in Singapore and Malaysia, where the undesirable haze accompanies the financial returns on their investments.

Before 1998, the blame for starting the fires was put exclusively on smallholders' 'shifting cultivation' techniques, with large-scale plantations and development projects protected from any criticism by the government.

But the 1997/8 fires in Sumatra and the change of regime in Indonesia threw new light onto the debate and it became evident that burning was the cheapest option widely used by all farmers, whether on a small or large scale or on peat or mineral soils.

Further information: http://worldagroforestrycentre.org/regions/southeast_asia/publications?do=view_pub_detail&pub_no=PB0064-13

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Air pollution linked to higher risk of lung cancer and heart failure

Two studies show effects on health of long- and short-term exposure to pollutants from traffic and industry
Sarah Boseley The Guardian 10 Jul 13;

Air pollution, chiefly from traffic exhaust fumes in cities, is having a serious and sometimes fatal effect on health, according to two studies that link it to lung cancer and heart failure.

Air pollution increases the risk of lung cancer even at levels lower than those recommended by the European Union, which are also standard in the UK, says a paper in the Lancet Oncology journal. Although smoking is a far bigger cause of lung cancer, a significant number of people will get the disease because of where they live.

The study, codenamed Escape, combined data from 17 cohort studies in nine European countries covering a total of almost 313,000 people. The size of the research gives it greater authority than previous work.

It looked at the effect of long-term exposure to nitrogen oxides and particulate matter – PM2.5, which has a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, and PM10, with a diameter less than 10 micrometres. Among the participants, 2,095 developed lung cancer during an average 13 years of follow-up.

The researchers, led by Ole Raaschou-Nielsen from the Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, found that for every increase of five micrograms per cubic metre of PM2.5 pollution, the risk of lung cancer rose by 18%, and for every increase of 10 micrograms per cubic metre in PM10 pollution the risk increased by 22%. They found no link between lung cancer and nitrogen oxides.

Air pollution comes from traffic – mostly diesel fumes – household heating and industry. In cities where people live close together, "there is no reason to believe this [risk] is restricted to people of higher or lower socio-economic status," said Raaschou-Nielsen. They found a link with lung cancer even at low levels of air pollution, so the message was, he said, "the less the better and the more the worse".

The second study, published by the Lancet, shows that short-term exposure to air pollution increases the risk of being admitted to hospital with and dying of heart failure.

There are 750,000 people living with the effects of heart failure in the UK, and 20 million worldwide. The study, led by Nicholas Mills from Edinburgh University and funded by the British Heart Foundation, shows that air pollution can have potentially fatal effects on them.

"Heart failure is a common, costly and fatal condition … and is one of the most frequent reasons for hospital admission," Mills said. "While the role of air pollution is well recognised as a risk factor for heart attacks, it has been less clear whether exposure increases the risk of adverse events in patients with other cardiovascular conditions like heart failure.

"Since the entire population is exposed to air pollution, even modest reductions in air pollution could have major cardiovascular health benefits and substantial healthcare cost savings."

The project combined data from 35 studies across the world on carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10). There was a strong link between hospitalisation or death from heart failure and all the pollutants except for ozone. The effect was strongest on the day of admission, suggesting high air pollution levels could trigger a heart failure crisis.

Governments have acted to curb air pollution, but Mills said the study showed the problems were still real. "Most of the studies have been from the last 10 years, well after most of the major legislation to reduce air pollution. This relationship is still present, even at levels in some countries which are very low," he said.

There is concern about pollution in the developing world, where data was not comprehensive enough to carry out studies, Mills said. Air pollution in some cities in China and India may be 10 or 20 times higher than in the UK. Nobody yet knows whether the health impact will be of the same increased magnitude.

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China's reliance on coal reduces life expectancy by 5.5 years, says study

High levels of air pollution will cause 500 million people to lose an aggregate 2.5 billion years from their lives
Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing The Guardian 9 Jul 13;

Air Pollution Attacks Beijing Again : A tourist looks at the Forbidden City as PM25 covers
Heavy smog shrouds Beijing with pollution at hazardous levels. Photograph: Feng Li/Getty Images

Air pollution causes people in northern China to live an average of 5.5 years shorter than their southern counterparts, according to a study released on Monday which claims to show in unprecedented detail the link between air pollution and life expectancy.

High levels of air pollution in northern China – much of it caused by an over-reliance on burning coal for heat – will cause 500 million people to lose an aggregate 2.5 billion years from their lives, the authors predict in the study, published in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The geographic disparity can be traced back to China's Huai River policy which, since it was implemented between 1950 and 1980, has granted free wintertime heating to people living north of the Huai river, a widely-acknowledged dividing line between northern and southern China. Much of that heating comes from the combustion of coal, significantly impacting the region's air quality.

"Using data covering an unusually long timespan – from 1981 through 2000 – the researchers found that air pollution … was about 55% higher north of the river than south of it," the MIT Energy Initiative said in a statement.

"Linking the Chinese pollution data to mortality statistics from 1991 to 2000, the researchers found a sharp difference in mortality rates on either side of the border formed by the Huai River. They also found the variation to be attributable to cardiorespiratory illness, and not to other causes of death."

The researchers, based in Israel, Beijing, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gauged the region's air quality according to the established metric of "total suspended particulates (TSP)," representing the concentration of certain airborne particles per cubic meter of air.

The study concluded that long-term exposure to air containing 100 micrograms of TSP per cubic meter "is associated with a reduction in life expectancy at birth of about 3.0 years."

Air pollution has been the subject of widespread public outrage in China since January, when Beijing's air quality index (AQI) – a similar metric to TSP – regularly exceeded 500, the scale's maximum reading, for weeks on end. On 12 January, Beijing's AQI hit a record 755, 30 times higher than levels deemed safe by the World Health Organisation.

Past studies have established a link between air pollution and reduced life expectancy. One recent large-scale study concluded that air pollution contributed to 1.2 million premature deaths in China in 2010.

Yet according to Michael Greenstone, an economics professor at MIT and one of the study's authors, this study is the first to precisely quantify their relationship. "Demonstrating that people die a bit earlier [because of pollution] is interesting and helps establish that pollution is bad," he said. "But the most important question, the next question that needed to be answered, is what's the loss of life expectancy? How much should society be willing to pay to avoid high levels of pollution? This study was structured so we could answer that question."

China's central authorities are keenly aware that environmental degradation has become one of the country's leading causes of social unrest. Last month, China's cabinet revealed 10 new measures intended to combat air pollution, and state media reported that Chinese courts can now impose the death penalty on serious polluters.

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Kenya seizes more smuggled ivory destined for Malaysia

Joseph Akwiri Yahoo News 10 Jul 13;

MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenyan officials have impounded another large consignment of smuggled elephant ivory barely a week after intercepting a similar haul, highlighting the rise of poaching in Africa.

The ivory, weighing 3.3 metric tons and valued at 65 million shillings ($748,400), was impounded this week. It had been wrapped in gunny sacks and declared as groundnuts being shipped to Malaysia from Kenya's capital, Nairobi, officials said on Tuesday.

"From the ivory we see displayed, we can clearly conclude that this haul amounts to over 200 elephants that were killed," said Fatuma Yusuf, a senior Kenya Revenue Authority official whose team discovered the ivory at the port.

Two other containers suspected of containing ivory are due for inspection, officials at the port city of Mombasa, east Africa's main trade gateway, said.

The seized consignment comprised 382 whole pieces and 62 cut pieces of ivory. Together with the ivory inside the container were unprocessed groundnuts.

On Wednesday, officials seized 775 pieces of ivory weighing 1.3 metric tons, also at the port, hidden under fish and destined for Malaysia from Uganda.
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Kenya Ports Authority workers and Kenya Wildlife Services …
Kenya Ports Authority workers and Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) officials arrange elephant tusks rec …

Poaching has risen in recent years across sub-Saharan Africa where well armed criminal gangs have killed elephants for tusks and rhinos for their horns that are often shipped to Asia for use in ornaments and medicines.

Arthur Tuda, the assistant director of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in Coast region, said that from his assessment, the ivory appeared to have been extracted from the savannah elephants which he said were characterized by big tusks.

"These elephants occur from central, east and all the way to South Africa. The tusks are definitely from very mature elephants, perhaps 50 or more years old. One of the tusks is seven feet long and weighing 46 kgs (101 lb), clearly from a very mature elephant," Tuda told journalists.

The seizure comes barely two months after customs officials in United Arab Emirates seized 259 pieces of ivory shipped from Mombasa, a port that has long been seen as a transit point for drugs and other contraband goods.

While in Tanzania on his recent tour of Africa, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a $10 million plan to help curb illegal trafficking in rhino horn, elephant tusks and body parts from other endangered wildlife across Africa.

A senior director of KWS said Kenya had been given a six- month ultimatum to curb poaching and smuggling of game trophies, by the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild life, CITES. Failure would result in Kenya being blacklisted.

Kenya's cabinet this year approved stiffer fines and lengthy jail sentences for anyone convicted of poaching or trafficking in wildlife trophies, saying poaching was harming tourism, a major foreign exchange earner.

(Writing by James Macharia)

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Floods top 2013 world disaster bill so far: Munich Re

(AFP) Google News 10 Jul 13;

BERLIN — Floods that caused billions of dollars (euros) in losses were the world's most expensive natural disasters so far this year, with central Europe being hit hardest, reinsurers Munich Re said on Tuesday.

Altogether, natural catastrophes -- also including earthquakes, tornados and heat waves -- caused $45 billion (35 billion euros) in losses in the first half of 2013, well below the 10-year average of $85 billion.

Insured losses worldwide totalled about $13 billion, said Munich Re.

Inland flooding that affected parts of Europe, Asia, Canada and Australia caused about 47 percent of overall global losses and 45 percent of insured losses, said the leading reinsurance company based in Munich, Germany.

The deadliest disaster out of 460 recorded "natural hazard events" worldwide was a series of flash floods in northern India and Nepal that killed more than 1,000 people in June after early and exceptionally heavy monsoon rains.

By far the most expensive natural disaster was the river flooding that hit southern and eastern Germany and neighbouring countries in May and June, causing more than $16 billion in damage, most of it in Germany.

"The frequency of flood events in Germany and central Europe has increased by a factor of two since 1980," said Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek.

In some places, 400 litres of rain per square metre fell within a few days. With the ground already saturated from the rainiest spring in half a century, this led to rapid swelling of the Danube and Elbe river systems.

Peter Hoeppe, head of Munich Re's Geo Risks Research unit, said in a statement that "it is evident that days with weather conditions that lead to such flooding are becoming more frequent".

As weather systems tend to remain stationary for longer, he said there was a higher chance for heavy and long-lasting rains, and for summer heatwaves and droughts.

"Debate in climate research is currently focusing on what the causes of such changes in weather patterns could be and what role climate change might play in this," he said. "But it is naturally not possible to explain single events on this basis."

The second most expensive disaster was a series of severe tornadoes that hit the United States in May, especially a maximum-strength tornado that devastated the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore.

The tornado, which killed 26 people, left more than 270 injured and in Moore alone completely destroyed more than 1,000 buildings, caused an overall economic loss of more than three billion dollars, about half of it insured.

"The central states of the USA have the highest tornado risk in the world," said Hoeppe. "Altogether, however, the US tornado season has been below average so far: by the end of June, 625 tornadoes had occurred, compared with the longer-term average of 1,075."

Europe floods to cost insurers up to $4.5 billion: Swiss Re
Caroline Copley PlanetArk 9 Jul 13;

Europe floods to cost insurers up to $4.5 billion: Swiss Re Photo: Wolfgang Rattay
File picture shows a rescue team on a dinghy evacuating a man from the flooded district of the Bavarian town of Passau, about 200 km (124 miles) north-east of Munich June 4, 2013.
Photo: Wolfgang Rattay

Floods in central Europe last month may cost insurance companies $3.5-4.5 billion, only half of one previous estimate but more than was paid out for the last major washout in 2002, the world's second biggest reinsurer said on Monday.

The forecast from Swiss Re compares to an earlier warning from a damage modeling agency that losses could top $8 billion. That, and its estimate of a $300 million hit for its own results, saw shares in Swiss Re and some other sector firms rise.

The flooding in early June forced Czech soldiers to erect metal barriers and pile up sandbags to protect Prague's historic centre after days of heavy rains swelled rivers and forced evacuations from low-laying areas.

Emergency workers, soldiers and volunteers worked desperately to shore up flood defenses in towns along the Danube and Elbe rivers as the high water moved downstream in the following days, with Germany among the worst-hit.

German insurance trade body GDV last week estimated the country's insurers could face damage claims of nearly 2 billion euros ($2.57 billion), slightly ahead of the 1.8 billion cost seen in the Elbe floods a decade ago.

Floods which drowned Prague's historic Old Town and other cities in water in 2002 cost insurers around $3.4 billion.

The world's biggest reinsurer, Munich Re, is due to publish its estimate of insurance industry and economic losses on Tuesday, in an overview of natural catastrophes in the first half of the year.

It will release a figure for its own share of the losses from the floods, which also hit towns in Austria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, with second quarter earnings data on August 6.

Swiss Re said steps such as the mobile flood barriers used in Prague had helped spare many regions from substantial losses.

"Thanks to timely prevention measures, large areas have been saved from flooding," said Swiss Re's Group Chief Underwriting Officer Matthias Weber.

$8 BILLION

Reinsurers like Hannover, Munich Re and Swiss Re help insurance company customers cover the cost of major damage claims like hurricanes or earthquakes in exchange for part of the premium.

Earlier forecasts had resulted in far higher loss estimates, though industry observers caution that there are differences in what is included in the estimate, for example indirect costs such as relocation lodging or business interruption.

Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide had said insurance claims for flood damage in Germany alone may be as much as $8 billion.

Credit rating agency Fitch had put losses at up to 3 billion euros ($3.85 billion) in Germany, while Insurance broker Willis estimated claims of 4 billion euros in Europe.

Europe's biggest insurer, Allianz, has penciled in claims of 500 million euros from the floods across Europe, before passing on some costs to reinsurers.

Vontobel analyst Stefan Schuermann said the claims burden would pose little threat to Swiss Re's earnings and ability to pay a high dividend.

"This first major natural catastrophe loss event will impact second quarter results but year-to-date natural catastrophe claims remain well below budget having experienced virtually nothing in the first quarter," Schuermann said.

Shares in Swiss Re were trading up 1.2 percent at 71.10 Swiss francs by 5:50 a.m. EDT, while the STOXX Europe 600 insurance index rose 1.9 percent.

Munich Re shares rose 2.4 percent.

Swiss Re reported a 21 percent rise in profit in the first quarter, driven by a rise in premium and fee income, low catastrophe losses and the expiry of a quota share agreement with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Gould in Frankfurt; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Patrick Graham)

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Best of our wild blogs: 9 Jul 13

13-14 Jul (Sat, Sun) at VivoCity: Festival of Biodiversity 2013
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

Unfazed by the haze
from Pulau Hantu

She dives to make a difference
from Pulau Hantu

Butterflies Galore! : Little Maplet
from Butterflies of Singapore

Red Junglefowl Roundup Part II
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Take action before we lose our Rail Corridor

Nick McHugh Today Online 9 Jul 13;

For years, the old Rail Corridor was a strong line of steel running from Tanjong Pagar to the Causeway. The tracks were removed in 2011, leaving a ribbon of green open to runners, walkers, photographers and cyclists.

As it threads its way between condominiums and expressways, it is easy to see how tenuous its continued existence is. In a city where the car is king and development is fast-paced and constant, that this corridor exists at all is a gift to be cherished.

It will need protection to survive amid the concrete and steel. Yet, people are already disrespecting the trail, blocking it, abusing it and even parking vehicles on it. Recently, teams have been felling trees and leaving them across the track. If the trees do need clearing, surely they could be felled parallel to the track so people can pass?

This may seem like a minor point, but if the track gets blocked, people would stop using it and it would fall into disrepair. Then, it is a matter of time until the “unused land” gets turned into parking lots, buildings and shopping centres.

Over the past two years, those trimming trees for businesses, condos and housing estates have dumped branches on the sidings. These raised areas used to provide an alternative route when the track was muddy. Now, thanks to the dumping, they are overgrown and impassable.

Increasingly, lorries, vans and other vehicles are parking in the middle of the track and using it as access to building sites, which are creeping closer. The heavy vehicles block the way and cause ruts that fill with water.

In several areas, most notably between Holland and the bridge over Bukit Timah, the track is so muddy it is nearly impassable. There is over 30 cm of stagnant water under some of the bridges — during a dry period. During rainy weather, it gets a lot worse.

Further north, the removal of the old rail bridges means there is a need to cross busy roads. In one area, there is no way over a canal; the track comes to a dead end, meaning a long trip back and a detour.

The agency in charge of maintaining and protecting the Rail Corridor should stop people from felling trees across it, dumping rubbish on the sidings and parking all over it.

The whole length, and not only sections, must be kept clear so people can continue using and enjoying the track. If parts become unusable and the edges get nibbled away, we risk losing it entirely, in which case there would be no getting it back.

Rail Corridor gets regular maintenance
Julie Sim Today Online 12 Jul 13;

We thank Mr Nick McHugh for his feedback in “Take action before we lose our Rail Corridor” (July 9).

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) conducts regular maintenance, such as grass-cutting, vector checking and cleaning services, for the entire Rail Corridor, so that the public can enjoy the use of the track.

Indeed, the Corridor is popular with the public; mass events involving a few thousand people have been held there. Heavy usage coupled with wet weather will result in certain stretches becoming muddy.

We are currently working with the relevant authorities as well as stakeholders to improve the drainage system along the Corridor.

To deter illegal parking along the Corridor, the SLA had installed concrete blocks and bollards to prevent the entry of vehicles. Unfortunately, these were removed without permission by some members of the public.

While we work to replace the barriers, we seek the public’s cooperation to not park illegally.

The SLA strives to preserve as much of the greenery as possible, and we work closely with the National Parks Board to manage the trees along the Corridor. However, for public safety reasons, storm-vulnerable trees such as Albizia trees, which are prone to collapse due to their brittle wood structure and shallow root system, must be pruned or removed.

When such works are carried out, some areas may be temporarily blocked. Nonetheless, we have reminded our contractors to keep the Corridor passable and to remove the cut trees once the work is completed.

We have been in touch with Mr McHugh to address his concerns. While regular maintenance and measures to curb abuses are carried out, the Corridor stretches 26km and no monitoring can be foolproof, unless a closed-circuit television system is installed across the entire length.

However, this would be intrusive and would take away the privacy and charm of the area. We urge the public to treasure the place and, together, play our part to keep the Rail Corridor clean and accessible, so that all can enjoy the greenery and heritage of the trail.

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Haze: Keep up the pressure, Singaporeans

Ang Peng Hwa, For The Straits Times 9 Jul 13;

IT LOOKS like the worst of the haze is behind us. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has apologised, taken the political heat and mobilised firefighting efforts. We can breathe a little easier.

But as private individuals and consumers, we should not back off on the pressure on the companies responsible. Instead, we should move to punish through consumer and business boycotts those offending companies that will be officially identified. We should put all the necessary mechanisms for boycotts in place for when the haze recurs.

There are three questions many people pose when a boycott is proposed.

First, why can't we leave it to the government to act against the companies? Second, will it work? And third, how can we be sure the companies are the ones responsible?

Observing the blogosphere indicates to me that many young Singaporeans have no idea of the geopolitical reality of where Indonesia stands.

It is a large country, so large that there are political factions that see Singapore as a mere dot. If it does not want to be moved, a dot cannot budge a rock.

Until recently, that political will appeared to be absent for all intents and purposes. Laws and treaties had been established and ratified by those affected but not the source, Indonesia.

If the government is unwilling or unable to act, who can? It is not business because who is a business or a business group to tell another business or business group what to do?

By default, through the lack of options, it is up to the private citizen as consumer to act. Consumers as the ultimate buyers have the collective clout to demand certain ethical behaviour from the seller.

This raises the second question: What is the efficacy of a boycott? Can it work?

The simple answer is "yes".

There are many examples of consumer boycotts and even threats of consumer boycotts that have been successful in changing the malpractices of business.

The clothing manufacturing sweatshops in Bangladesh will undoubtedly improve the working conditions of their workers because the clothing brands fear the taint of the hellish conditions on their names.

Similarly, the paper and palm oil companies identified by the Indonesian government as contributing to the haze do sell their products either under their own brands or to international brands.

Paper products are easier to track and therefore, boycott.

With current technology in DNA tracing, it is even possible to link the paper in one's hand to the tree it came from. And there are alternatives. In Singapore, the Double A brand of copy paper claims its trees are grown on the berms between padi fields. Further afield, there are Scandinavian and Canadian companies that produce copy paper from pine trees.

Yes, they will likely cost more, especially relative to copy paper from the offending companies, but not that much more. In any case, buying the cheaper paper could mean paying through the nose literally as opposed to figuratively.

A palm oil consumer boycott is a little harder. A friend from the United States offered to join the boycott and asked how he might help. When I said to boycott Oreos cookies, he groaned.

But if the palm oil companies think that being difficult to trace makes it impossible for consumers to boycott them, they are gravely mistaken.

In 2001, Professor George Akerlof won the Nobel Prize for his economic theory modelling how the uncertainty of information in a market can lead to the destruction of the market.

Here is how it works: Consider the case of milk in China. In the face of uncertainty of information over which brand is unreliable, the Chinese consumer is boycotting all Chinese milk brands.

Similarly, if it is uncertain which brands of palm oil were contributing to the haze, it would not be unreasonable for consumers to boycott all palm oil. This is a logical response particularly if they go by reports that the area to be cultivated for oil palm is to be increased by 60 per cent.

This potential for the destruction of the palm oil market is why the industry association Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has jumped to life from its previously dormant state to demand digital maps from its members. It has to identify those members and non-members who are contributing to the haze to save the market.

This leads to the third question of how to identify the offenders. The stock response is that it is a complex matter.

The truth is it may be complicated but it is certainly not complex. The modern car has many moving parts and a lot of electronics; it is complicated but not complex. Press a button, flick a switch and you get the same response every time. The human body is complex; two persons of the same age and gender from the same ethnic group may react differently to the same medication. When something is complex, doing the same thing does not always get the same result.

In contrast, the response from the companies whose fires are burning in the concessions has followed a script. A choking haze sweeps over Singapore and Malaysia. Non-governmental organisations and various parties pin the blame on paper and palm oil companies. The companies deny they are responsible for the fires; it will be said that farmers are responsible as they have been doing so for decades and centuries, overlooking the fact that the haze at health-threatening levels started only from the early 1990s when plantations began sprouting. And as if to prove the point that it is individual farmers, some poor souls are arrested. Meanwhile, paper companies will say it makes no sense to burn trees when they are paper companies.

It is a script. When something can be scripted, it is not complex.

All the evidence points to slash-and-burn by the large plantation companies or their third-party suppliers.

Any effort at a boycott therefore has to be multi-pronged.

Here is where every Singaporean can play a part in stopping the haze.

Join the Stop The Haze petition on Avaaz.org

Join the Facebook group Haze Elimination Action Team (Disclosure: I am one of the founders of this group). It is intended as an information hub for a boycott, when needed. Should the companies be identified, the team will also be talking to bankers and financiers of the offenders to tell them to boycott those companies.

We hope the situation will not require us to activate a boycott.

Even so, if the haze dies down, just being ready to act the next time the haze comes around will be a step forward.

Sign up, act and prepare to make a difference.

The writer is a professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, where he is the director of the Singapore Internet Research Centre.

He is one of the administrators of the Facebook group, Haze Elimination Action Team, a group of volunteers formed to fight the haze.

Read more!

Government to introduce further measures to fight haze problem

Neo Chai Chin Today Online 9 Jul 13;

SINGAPORE — To prevent a recurrence of the haze which blighted Singapore’s skyline just weeks ago, a raft of measures, including the possibility of extraterritorial legal action, will be deployed by the Government.

These measures were laid out yesterday in a Parliament session dominated by questions on the haze issue, which hogged headlines late last month when the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading hit a record high of 401.

As one Member of Parliament after another rose to ask about Singapore’s readiness to tackle the haze and what more could be done to mitigate the clearing of land by burning in Indonesia that led to it, the Government detailed further efforts to fight the problem.

For a start, Singapore will seek an answer on its offer to renew its collaboration with Jambi in Sumatra and work with other provinces to enhance fire prevention, suppression and alternative livelihoods. This is one of four outcomes Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan will seek at next week’s meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution in Kuala Lumpur.

Singapore will also ask the other participating countries — Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand — to provide detailed concession maps and agree on a date to publicly launch a monitoring platform that enables errant companies to be identified, said Dr Balakrishnan.

This will help governments track down those responsible for the fires, he said, although he acknowledged that this would be a challenging task.

Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam also told the House that Singapore is considering the introduction of laws against parties whose overseas business activities negatively impact the Republic’s environment or economy. He has tasked the Attorney-General to “study the possibility of introducing legislation”, and to “consider what legal options are available, if credible and usable evidence is received that Singapore-linked companies are involved”.

In recent months, environmental groups have produced data showing hot spots in Sumatra which fall within the concession areas of palm oil or pulp companies, some with a presence here. Singapore is also awaiting Indonesia’s response on any evidence of wrongdoing by Singapore-linked companies. Both ministers, however, stressed that there were limits to what the Republic could do.

Mr Shanmugam said the “primary responsibility” for taking action against errant companies lies with Indonesia. When asked if Indonesia is likely to ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, signed 10 years ago, he said Jakarta would submit it to its House of Representatives soon.

But Dr Balakrishnan sounded a cautious note: While ratifying the treaty will signal high-level political commitment by Indonesia, “it may not be sufficient to prevent the haze if the measures taken on the ground remain weak”.

The ministers also cautioned that diplomacy was an important part of the process.

Mr Shanmugam stressed that international relations must be handled delicately. Referring to an agreement made at the last ASEAN ministerial meeting to detail steps to be taken to deal with the haze, he said: “That is quite an important requirement, because it requires every country to come forward and say what they have done and what they have not done.”

Singapore has worked out options on where, when and how it will raise its interests and whether to involve issues of international law, he added. “But I don’t think it’s very fruitful to come out and talk about them in great detail. It will create more tension.”

As an example, he cited the pressure faced by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono after he made a “very statesman-like gesture” and apologised to Singapore for the haze. “What we want to avoid is creating a situation where, for political reasons, parties or people within Indonesia then take a position to say Singapore is threatening us and therefore, we must react and therefore, we must not do what they ask. We can very quickly get into those sorts of dynamics,” said Mr Shanmugam.

Yesterday, MPs were also told about how ministers began drawing up plans to tackle the haze about a week before it hit, and were taken through the considerations taken by the Government in giving out PSI readings, which had come under some criticism as the haze began enveloping the country.

Dr Balakrishnan took pains to point out how the readings were obtained, and stressed that they were accurate. He also announced that the haze early warning capability would be boosted soon, and that the Meteorological Service would release details soon.

Parliament will sit again today.

Government ‘prepared for national emergencies’
Woo Sian Boon Today Online 9 Jul 13;

SINGAPORE — Two weeks before Singapore was hit by its worst haze episode, the inter-agency Haze Task Force had met on May 29 to review its plans and to prepare for the dry season.

The Government said this yesterday, as it sought to assure Members of Parliament (MPs) that plans to respond to national emergencies are in place and had functioned as intended, even though it acknowledged that some areas could be improved.

The task force, which was formed in 1994 and comprises 23 agencies, is activated yearly ahead of the dry season to review its procedures and responses and to coordinate the different agencies’ ground actions. “We were gearing up for the onset of the haze season,” said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan.

“In fact, this is somewhat earlier than the usual haze season in other years. But the situation deteriorated sharply during a very short period.”

As such, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had set up the Inter-Ministerial Committee on June 20, to “oversee overall national efforts” against haze as “an added step and new step … calibrated appropriately to deal with the haze problem”. “I want to assure Singaporeans that our structures to respond to national emergencies are in place and are functioning as intended,” said Dr Ng, the Chairman of the Haze Inter-ministerial Committee.

He, however, acknowledged that the authorities could improve on their efforts in communication, guidance and education during the haze episode. “During emergencies, perceived or real lack of information or misinformation can often create greater problems than the threat itself,” said Dr Ng.

Responding to Non-Constituency MP Gerald Giam’s question about the situation where masks could not be stocked quickly enough in retail outlets, Dr Ng stressed that there was, in fact, no shortage of masks and that the Government’s stockpile of nine million masks were originally meant for healthcare workers in preparation for the onslaught of any infectious diseases.

Dr Ng added that the masks have been restocked, while the Health Ministry “will be looking in terms of packaging and see how they can roll it out in terms of distributorship chain”.

He said: “We were able to react fairly quickly, including using the SAF to move the masks from the warehouses to the constituencies and at the same time, retailers like NTUC FairPrice activating their supply chain to get the masks straight from the warehouse to their retail outlets, including the other retailers ... We can do better but we didn’t do that badly.”

When asked by MP Baey Yam Keng (Tampines GRC) if the Government stands ready to distribute masks to needy families again should the haze return, Dr Ng said the Government “has always stepped up to help its people when they need it”. WOO SIAN BOON

Singapore to push for action at haze meeting
Top of agenda at Asean meet: Seeking accurate land concession maps
Leonard Lim Straits Times 9 Jul 13;

SINGAPORE will seek several concrete outcomes at an Asean haze meeting in Kuala Lumpur next week, and topping the agenda is an urgent push for Indonesia to provide official and accurate land concession maps.

These maps, combined with satellite technology, will be instrumental in holding companies or individuals who clear land illegally to account, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday.

"Without those maps, it's very difficult for me to point fingers... authoritatively, bearing in mind that these activities occur in another sovereign land."

Dr Balakrishnan, who was one of five ministers who addressed Parliament yesterday on the haze issue, will lead a delegation to Malaysia for the three-day meeting, which begins on Monday.

There, Singapore will also urge the other participating countries - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand - to agree on a date for launching a sub-regional haze monitoring system. It will help identify errant companies whose activities contributed to the air quality soaring to record hazardous levels last month.

The KL meeting will be the 15th time the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution is coming together. The group was formed in 2006 to help Indonesia combat the annual haze, which has dogged the region for years.

As the haze is not just an environmental problem, Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore will also ask for high-level officials from all relevant agencies and ministries in the five countries to be involved in tackling the scourge. It will also urge Indonesia to renew a collaboration on fire prevention and sustainable farming practices, and to commit to ratifying an Asean Transboundary Haze Pollution Agreement as soon as possible.

Indonesia is the only Asean country yet to ratify the 2002 agreement, a point made by MPs like Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC) yesterday.

At least 15 MPs asked about the haze, while various members of the House had tabled 30 questions for the session.

The extensive range of topics discussed over three hours included questions such as whether the Government could have done better in communicating with the public, and whether Singapore could impose criminal sanctions on errant companies.

Law Minister K. Shanmugam disclosed that the Government was looking at introducing extra-territorial laws to punish Singapore-linked firms if there was "credible and usable evidence". Mr Shanmugam, who is also Foreign Minister, however stressed that the primary responsibility for taking action lies with Indonesia.

Tackling the haze through regional cooperation was a point raised by Dr Balakrishnan as well.

He expressed appreciation for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's commitment to tackling the haze, and added: "We need continued vigilance and we need decisive action by the Indonesian authorities to prevent another recurrence of the haze over the next two to three months."

But looking back, Dr Balakrishnan and Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the haze brought out Singaporeans' resilience.

Dr Ng, who chairs an inter-ministerial committee on the haze, said Singapore needs two essential elements to withstand similar threats in future - trust between leaders and people, and care for each other. "The day we lose that trust, the day we stop caring... any crisis will be too big for us."

S'pore looking into laws to deal with firms behind haze
Extra-territorial laws to tackle errant companies to be studied
Elgin Toh Straits Times 9 Jul 13;

SINGAPORE is looking at introducing extra-territorial laws to deal with companies found responsible for slash-and-burn practices that caused the haze, Law Minister K. Shanmugam disclosed in Parliament yesterday.

The Attorney-General has been asked to study the possibility of extending the arm of the law beyond Singapore's borders, as well as to "consider what legal options are available, if credible and usable evidence is received that Singapore-linked companies are involved", he said.

The announcement was made in his response to MPs' questions at the first parliamentary session since the haze crisis began last month.

Many MPs had asked if tougher action could be taken against errant companies and Indonesia.

Several MPs were uncompromising in urging stiff measures against the companies, with Ms Irene Ng (Tampines GRC) calling for a boycott of companies found to be at fault.

Mr Shanmugam, who is also the Foreign Minister, said the primary responsibility for taking the companies to task lay in the hands of Indonesia.

Singapore, however, has formally sought from Indonesia, via a diplomatic note, clarification on whether Singapore-linked companies were involved and, if so, evidence of wrong-doing.

"We are awaiting Indonesia's response," he said.

Mr Shanmugam, who praised Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for showing "statesmanship" by apologising, stressed that Singapore had hitherto adopted a cooperative stance in its dealings with Indonesia and other Asean states.

The approach has yielded encouraging outcomes, he added.

A three-way cooperative process involving Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia has been set up to tackle the haze problem.

It was significant, he added, that all Asean countries now had to report at Asean summits "what they have done and what they have not done" on the haze issue.

Singapore has also offered to renew environmental collaboration with Indonesia's Jambi province, and to repair the air quality and weather monitoring stations it set up in 2009.

Later, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan explained that collaboration with Jambi lapsed in 2011 owing to local reasons, like the change in the province's leadership. Urging MPs to be sensitive about cross-border relations, he added: "If you want to go to your neighbour's house even if it's for collaboration, you need permission."

Mr Shanmugam had made the same point, saying he did not consider it wise for Singapore to be too abrasive.

Several MPs suggested more forceful action, with Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang (Aljunied GRC) asking why Singapore had chosen not to raise the issue at the United Nations, as it did during the 2006 haze crisis.

Exerting pressure could result in relationships being downgraded from "friendly" to "cool and correct", said Mr Shanmugam.

"We must maintain a clear, long-term perspective of the bilateral relationship and do our utmost to avoid hurting this relationship as much as possible."

While not ruling out UN action, he added that assertiveness could be counterproductive as it could cause groups in Indonesia to align against a solution.

"What we want to avoid is creating a situation where for political reasons, parties or people within Indonesia then take a position to say, 'Singapore is threatening us. And therefore we must react, and therefore we must not do what they ask'.

"I think we can very quickly get into those sorts of dynamics. International relations have to be handled delicately," he said.

More resources for early warning system
Joyce Lim Straits Times 9 Jul 13;

MORE resources are being poured into enhancing Singapore's haze early warning system, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told Parliament yesterday.

To improve its early detection and warning capabilities, the Meteorological Services Singapore (MSS) of the National Environment Agency (NEA) would be using more meteorological data, more computer modelling of images and finer resolution of satellite images. It will also install more wind sensors.

For a start, it hopes to get feeds from new satellites which have greater resolution as early as next year, said Dr Balakrishnan.

"We need resolution down to about one- to two-kilometre range, to be able to identify a hot spot. The new satellites will also have greater spectral sensitivity, which means you can also see fires at an early stage, maybe even at the underground level," he said.

More wind sensors beyond Singapore's shores would also be needed to provide a more accurate prediction of weather patterns, "whether there will be rain or drought", he added.

Better information such as the speed and direction of the winds would be able to determine how quickly the haze would reach Singapore.

Dr Balakrishnan gave this answer in response to the flurry of queries from MPs on how Singapore could do better in coping with the haze.

Beyond the overview of tackling the problem at the regional level, he also spelt out the steps to improve monitoring as this would help people plan and prepare for their day.

But he cautioned about the difficulties of early warning: "We must not forget that while the fires are beyond our immediate sight, the haze actually only takes a few hours to reach us. This makes early warning very challenging even with perfect knowledge of the ground situation and winds. Under ideal conditions, the longest warning that we can have from the time the smoke emerges from the fire to the time the haze hits us is around six to 10 hours. This helps frame how difficult early warning is."

Noting that it would be impossible to achieve 100 per cent accuracy, the minister added that enhanced capabilities for early detection could improve the precision of forecasts.

The minister also explained his decision not to publish real-time data or raw data instantly during the recent haze crisis, to avoid "the risk of confusion or worse, publishing unverified or inaccurate data".

With accuracy as his primary consideration, he said he found that publishing the 24-hour PSI, the 24-hour rolling average PM2.5 and the three-hour PSI were essential, as the shape of the three-hour PSI graph and that of the one-hour PSI graph were "virtually identical".

Despite not publishing real-time data, Dr Balakrishnan reassured the House that the ministry is monitoring spot-data closely and would intervene when a sudden change is spotted.

N95 masks were meant for health workers in an epidemic
That's why it took time to get stocks out to public during the haze episode
Grace Chua Straits Times 9 Jul 13;

SINGAPORE's stockpile of nine million N95 masks was not readily available in the shops last month because they were meant for an infectious-disease epidemic, said Dr Ng Eng Hen in Parliament.

The masks, which filter out small particles, were not originally for the public. They were kept by the Government to prevent the spread of disease to health-care workers, he explained.

"That stockpile is quite important in case, touch wood, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (a virus similar to Sars) viruses come here," he said yesterday. "So the way they were stored... the assumption was for a particular rate of use."

He was responding to MPs' concerns that there were delays and bottlenecks getting N95 masks to the public during last month's haze episode - a major concern which saw queries from six legislators.

Dr Ng, who is Defence Minister and chairman of an inter-ministerial haze committee, explained that retailers' distribution channels could not cope with the spike in demand. "There are few systems where one day to the next, your demand is one day, 5,000; the next, one million," he said.

But despite the crunch, the Government decided to provide for the needy, he added, distributing about a million masks to 200,000 households.

"We didn't know how long the haze would last," he said in response to a question from Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines GRC).

"There wasn't really a shortage, but out of concern that the poor and vulnerable would not be able to get (masks), we met and decided that ministries would push the masks out."

The Government is now rebuilding its supplies of N95 masks, added Health Minister Gan Kim Yong.

But, he stressed, the masks may not fit everyone. Responding to Workers' Party MP Lee Li Lian (Punggol East) on the options for children, Mr Gan explained that there are no N95 masks suitable for small children.

"MOH will continue to explore the different masks available in the market to see which of them will be suitable for use by our children," he said.

The hoarding of the precious N95 last month also drew the attention of MPs. Mr Desmond Lee (Jurong GRC) asked if the Competition Act could include provisions to prevent essential items from being hoarded.

Acting Culture, Community and Youth Minister Lawrence Wong replied that the Control of Essential Supplies Act, last used in the 1980s for petroleum, was still in place to provide for control and rationing of necessities in a crisis. But the Act was not invoked this time as the spike in PSI was for only a short time.

Households could also buy their own N95 masks even after the haze subsided, he added, to have their own small stockpiles so the Government would not have to distribute many masks in a brief period.

Trust needed for govt role as info provider and regulator
Lydia Lim, Deputy Political Editor Straits Times 9 Jul 13;

WHEN it comes to information, many MPs want the Government to up its game as the primary source of timely, accurate facts and figures in time of crisis.

But there are some who fear that the Government is not just a supplier of information but it can also be a suppresser of news and views it finds inconvenient.

These two divergent views of government in today's information society were the focus of questions yesterday when lawmakers quizzed ministers about the haze and a new licensing framework for news websites.

They did so just weeks after the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) shot up to dangerous levels for a short spell, sparking mass anxiety over health and safety.

Yesterday, MPs gave voice to Singaporeans' demand for action to address the source of the haze in Indonesia, and for earlier warnings should air quality plummet again.

Minister for Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan devoted a substantial portion of his response to explaining the complexity of providing timely and accurate information, given that the source of the haze is "hundreds of kilometres away and spread over an area that is many times the size of Singapore".

He produced two satellite images and a chart to show how factors such as cloud cover and wind conditions make detection and prediction difficult.

"Under ideal conditions, the longest warning that we can have from the time the smoke emerges from the fire to the time the haze hits us is around six to 10 hours," he told the House.

Later, Ms Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC) asked for hourly PSI readings which the ministry has been reluctant to provide.

Once again, Dr Balakrishnan - a medical doctor - launched into a lengthy explanation of the complexity of providing meaningful data, given that other factors apart from PSI readings had to be taken into account in determining health effects.

He said Singapore was in the midst of updating the way it measures air pollutants and that he thought hard before deciding to turn down public requests for real-time data during the recent haze crisis.

"Why? I decided not to do so because the risk of confusion or worse, publishing unverified or inaccurate data, was too high. I could not take that risk in the middle of a crisis," he said.

Misinformation was the subject of three PAP MPs' questions and they gave Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim the perfect opening to take aim at individuals who had circulated haze falsehoods.

He named The Real Singapore website and blogger Ravi Philemon as among those who had contributed to the confusion. The online community had rejected the Government's previous attempts to encourage their coming together to build a responsible online environment and its proposal for a Code of Conduct, he said.

"Yet, when public anxiety was highest in the days when the haze was at its worst, where were these prominent members of the online community who believed that the Internet community should be left alone? Were they helping to clarify and reject online rumours, or were they helping to spread them or even create them?" he added.

It was a surprisingly sharp retort from a minister better known for being conciliatory.

But when the House turned to consider the Media Development Authority's (MDA's) new licensing framework for news websites, Dr Yaacob had to switch from playing offence to defence. Several PAP and opposition MPs pressed him to explain the very broad definition of news sites used in framing the regulation.

These are a source of anxiety and uncertainty for the online community, the MPs said, as they potentially allow the authorities to require individual licences for a whole range of content providers.

The minister's assurance that the Government has no plans to do so, and that netizens should "keep calm and continue posting" is unlikely to persuade bloggers who worry about having to play by the same rules as newspapers, which have operated under individual licences for far longer.

Yet, as Dr Yaacob observed, since the class licence scheme for websites took effect in 1996, MDA has not asked any site to take down content critical of the Government.

But as its own ministers said yesterday, the key issue here is trust. The Government has a credible record of being upfront with Singaporeans in times of crisis but when it comes to its openness to criticism, doubts linger.

Yesterday's sitting was a reminder that the political leadership needs to work on both fronts to maintain the trust of its supporters and to win over doubters.

As Dr Balakrishnan said: "Trust is that intangible, crucial ingredient to Singapore's success. Without trust in the Government, anything we say won't be believed, anything we do cannot be implemented."

Task force met before crisis struck, says Ng Eng Hen
Straits Times 9 Jul 13;

CALL it great timing but a fortnight before the haze enveloped Singapore, the national inter-agency haze task force had actually met to work out how to coordinate its action plans should the haze return.

The meeting was held on May 29, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen disclosed in Parliament yesterday.

"The task force is in fact activated yearly ahead of the dry season, to review its procedures and responses and coordinate agencies' ground actions," said Dr Ng, who chairs an inter-ministerial haze committee that oversees national efforts to tackle this year's crisis.

The committee was formed last month.

The task force, on the other hand, is almost 20 years old.

Set up in 1994, it holds its yearly review before the annual dry season, when the threat of haze rears its ugly head.

Made up of 23 public agencies, it reports to a Crisis Management Group on Haze, part of a series of groups set up in 2004 to handle specific threats when they arise.

The task force further reports to a Homefront Crisis Executive Group made up of the permanent secretaries of relevant ministries, like the Ministry of Communications and Information.

Dr Ng's new committee, however, comprises ministers from key ministries like Environment and Water Resources, Foreign Affairs and Health, and oversees overall national efforts to tackle the crisis.

The committee is "an added and new step, and one calibrated appropriately to deal with the haze problem", he said.

Yesterday, replying to MPs' questions on the national action plan, he said the focus is on three areas: protect public health and safety; work with Indonesia to curb the burning; and maintain social and economic resilience.

So, when there was panic-buying of N95 masks and bottlenecks in getting the masks to retailers, "the first task was to restore calm and protect the vulnerable".

Hence, priority was given to handing out free masks to needy households and distributing three million masks to retailers.

As the haze persisted, the Health as well as the Social and Family Development ministries sent out more boxes of masks to retailers, introduced subsidised GP visits for the young, old and needy, and gave subsidies to childcare centres to buy portable air-conditioners.

Dr Ng's committee also came up with plans to ensure there is no disruption of essential services like utilities, and to protect workers who spend long hours outdoors, like those in construction, shipyards and cleaning.

But he admitted that people could have been given more information with greater timeliness, although "not everyone wants or needs the same amount of information".

He assured the House the response to crises is robust, saying "our basic structure is comprehensive and sound, but we should always learn from every episode".

"MPs rightly ask: Can Singapore withstand the next national threat, the next big one, one even more severe? I believe so but only if we maintain the trust and care for one another. Trust and care between leaders and the people and for each other."

GRACE CHUA

Read more!

Malaysia, Maliau Basin: Long-term plan for 'lost world'

Kristy Inus The New Straits Times 9 Jul 13;

CONSERVATION: Yayasan Sabah and Danish body to review management of Maliau Basin

KOTA KINABALU: A REVIEW is on the cards for the management of Sabah's "lost world", the 588sq km Maliau Basin Conservation Area.

Its caretaker, Yayasan Sabah, will sign aN agreement with a Danish non-profit organisation tomorrow to draw up a new long-term conservation plan.

Yayasan Sabah director Datuk Sapawi Ahmad said in a statement that under the agreement, Nature, Ecology and People Consult (NEPCon) of Denmark would be assigned to update the management plan from next year to 2023.

He said with the end of the Maliau Basin Strategic Area Management Plan 2003-2012 last year, the foundation approached NEPCon for assistance to review the plan.

"For this purpose, NEPCon was successful in securing funds amounting to E294,875 (RM1.2 million) from Aage V. Jansen Foundation of Denmark.

"With the assistance of NEPCon, the foundation hopes to put in more efforts in protecting Maliau Basin."

NEPCon, with offices throughout Europe and Russia, strives to ensure responsible use of natural resources and sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use, business practices and consumer behaviour.

Sapawi said in 1999, a four-year collaborative project was initiated between Yayasan Sabah and Danced (Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development) and Danida (Danish International Development Assistance), which resulted in the formulation of the first Strategic Management Plan for Maliau Basin.

The Maliau Basin Conservation Area is located in southcentral Sabah, adjacent to the Yayasan Sabah Forest Management Area.

It is dubbed the "lost world" because of the rich biodiversity found within the crater-like structure that surrounds it.

Second plan to conserve Lost World inked
Muguntan Vanar The Star 10 Jul 13;

KOTA KINABALU: A second conservation plan for the Sabah Maliau Basin has been inked in a bid to further protect and conserve the area known internationally as the Lost World.

State-owned Yayasan Sabah and Nature, Ecology and People Consult (NEPCon) of Denmark signed a memorandum of understanding on the revision of the Maliau Basin Conservation Area Management Plan here yesterday.

Both parties had collaborated in the first Maliau Basin Conservation Area Strategic Management Plan (2003-2012).

The objective of the MoU was to review and update the plan for the period of 2014-2023, said Yayasan Sabah director Datuk Sapawi Ahmad.

“Since the first Strategic Management Plan was written, numerous development and changes have taken place in relation to the Maliau Basin Conservation Area, such as the completion of the Maliau Basin Studies Centre and related infrastructure and facilities,” he said.

Sapawi said NEPCon had been successful in securing funds amounting to 294,875 (RM1.2mil) from Aage V Foundation of Denmark for the funding of the conservation project.

“It is hoped that through this MoU, NEPCon and Yayasan Sabah will be able to construct a more effective forest management plan for the Maliau Basin Conservation Area in the years to come,” he added.

Read more!

'Endangered fish regularly exported': Singapore top market

Neha Madaan The Times of India 9 Jul 13;

PUNE: As many as 1.5 million freshwater fish of India belonging to 30 threatened species were exported from the country between 2005 and 2012. Of these, three endangered and vulnerable species, two of which are found in the Western Ghats, formed a significant portion of the exports, a recent research by the city-based Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) and several research institutes across the world has revealed.

The study also said that nine of the 20 threatened species exported during the period show a perpetual decline in their populations and despite such threats, India has no law that protects freshwater fish per se.

The study found that a major chunk of the trade involves the red lined torpedo barbs (RLTBs), a species complex of colourful cyprinids. The species' haphazard collection during the last 20 years has led to a decline in its population, resulting in its inclusion in the 'endangered' listing in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Neelesh Dahanukar of IISER said, "More than three lakh RLTBs were exported from India between 2005 and 2012 to seven countries. We think the original number of the fish picked up would have been more than this to make up for the high mortality rate in this species after harvest."

The research was recently published in the international journal 'Biological Conservation' and also involved institutes such as the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (UK), Institute of Aquaculture (Czech Republic), New England Aquarium (USA) and Roger Williams University (USA), among others.

Dahanukar added that a majority of the wild-caught aquarium fish from India come from biodiversity hotspots such as the Western Ghats and eastern Himalayas. "Of more than 100 species in trade from the Western Ghats, around 12 are regularly exported. In addition, we found that between 2005 and 2012, the main markets for RLTBs were Singapore (48.63%), Hong Kong (30.52%) and Malaysia (18.4%). A small number was exported to UK, Japan and Germany," he said.

Researchers also found that between 2005 and 2012 more than 89,000 RLTBs were collected and exported during the breeding season that extends from October to March. This made for 11-44% of the annual exports.

Dahanukar said the trade of threatened species through aquarium pet markets is a current or potential threat to as many as

22 endemic freshwater fish of the country, of which 12 are already threatened. "Species that are threatened yet regularly exported from the country have a restricted occupancy. For example, the zebra loach occupies segmented locations in a limited area of occupancy and had over 3,80,000 of its fish exported during the seven-year period. Over 2,000 fishes of a rare and endangered stone sucker species were also exported during this period," he said.

Novel species, which are of great conservation concern, are also being exported, the study found. These include, 'Gonoproktopterus thomassi', which is a critically endangered species that has a restricted distribution, and endangered species 'Glyptothorax housei', that comes from a single location in the Western Ghats.

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