Malaysia: Water disruption affects 1.6 million in Selangor

SIRA HABIBU The Star 14 Oct 16;

PETALING JAYA: More than 1.6 million people in four districts in Selangor will have to depend on relief water for an indefinite period, as another wave of river pollution forced the closure of the Sungai Semenyih treatment plant.

Kumpulan Air Selangor Corporate Communication Department chief Amin Lin Abdullah said they have no choice but to wait until the odour pollution, believed to originate from Nilai Industrial Park in Negri Sembilan, was cleared.

“As we have no other alternative to switch the source of raw water supply, we have to wait until the odour goes off before resuming plant operations,” he said.

The Semenyih plant was closed at 7.30am yesterday, causing water disruption to 456 locations in Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang districts.

It is the third wave of water supply disruption in Selangor caused by river pollution in recent weeks.

On Sept 22, the Semenyih water treatment plant was closed due to river pollution caused by an illegal factory along Jalan Sungai Lalang.

The Langat and Cheras water treatment plants were closed earlier this month due to odour pollution in Semantan River originating from Pahang.

However, the two plants were up and running almost immediately as the source of raw water supply was switched from Semantan River to Sungai Langat dam.

Amin said relief water would be sent in tankers to affected areas, and critical premises including hospitals and dialysis centres.

He said consumers could obtain the latest information through the “mySYABAS” mobile phone application, or www.syabas.com.my.

Air Selangor also expressed regret for the inconvenience posed by the plant closure.

Semenyih assemblyman Datuk Johan Abdul Aziz lambasted the Selangor government for initially delaying the approval of the Langat 2 water treatment plant project.

“If they did not play politics, the Langat 2 would be up and running by now.

“We would not have to suffer like this if we have alternative plants,” he said.

Selangor Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Elizabeth Wong who confirmed that the source of pollution was from Nilai, said upstream waterways there which flow into Sungai Buah leading to the Semenyih Intake Point was found to have strong unusual odour.

“Dead fish have also been spotted around the area,” she said.

Wong said Air Selangor and the Selangor Water Management Board (LUAS) had sent river surveillance teams to narrow down the source of the odour.


Water supply disruption in Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang
The Star 23 Oct 16;

KUALA LUMPUR: Several areas in the Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang districts are experiencing water supply disruption due to the closure of the Sungai Semenyih Water Treatment Plant (LRA).

Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) in a statement Sunday said the LRA was closed at 7.30am due to odour pollution from the Nilai industrial area, in Negri Sembilan.

The affected areas in the Hulu Langat district are Bangi, Bandar Bukit Mahkota, Kajang, Semenyih and Rinching.

For the Kuala Langat district, the areas involved are Morib, Banting, Bandar Saujana Putra, Bandar Rimbayu and Telok Panglima Garang.

In Petaling the areas involved are USJ 1-27, Puchong, Seri Kembangan and Serdang while in Sepang, the affected areas are Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, Bandar Nusa Putra, Putra Heights, Pulau Meranti, Kota Warisan, Bandar Bukit Puchong and Sungai Merab.

Syabas said delivery of water supply to the affected areas and critical premises such as hospitals and dialysis centres was being carried out. – Bernama


Source of Semenyih pollution narrowed down to Nilai, taps still dry in many districts
DAWN CHAN New Straits Times 23 Oct 16;

SHAH ALAM: The source of odour pollution that caused the shutdown of the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plant this morning has been roughly pinpointed as Nilai in Negri Sembilan, the Selangor state government has confirmed.

Selangor executive councillor for Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Consumer Affairs Elizabeth Wong said upstream waterways in Nilai were found to have an unusually strong odour as they flow into Sungai Buah, which leads to the Semenyih intake point.

"Dead fish have also been sighted in the area. River surveillance teams from Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) and the Selangor Water Management Board (Luas) were deployed this morning to narrow down the source of the odour.

“This afternoon, the teams were joined by a unit from the National Water Services Commission (SPAN)’s central office. "As of 4pm, the odour at Nilai is still evident, and all efforts are ongoing to pinpoint the contributing source.

We have conveyed information to the Negri Sembilan Department of Environment (DoE) through the Selangor DoE and Luas," said Wong in a statement today.

Several areas in the Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang districts are experiencing water disruptions following the closure of the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plant at 7.30am today.

In the Hulu Langat district, the affected areas are Bangi, Bandar Bukit Mahkota, Kajang, Semenyih and Rinching.

In the Kuala Langat district, the areas are Morib, Banting, Bandar Saujana Putra, Bandar Rimbayu and Telok Panglima Garang.

In the Petaling district, the areas are USJ 1- 27, Puchong, Seri Kembangan and Serdang.

In the Sepang district, the areas are Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, Bandar Nusa Putra, Putra Heights, Pulau Meranti, Kota Warisan, Bandar Bukit Puchong and Sungai Merab.

Wong said relief water supply is being delivered by tankers to affected areas and critical premises, such as hospitals and dialysis centres.


Semenyih water treatment plant closed again over pollution woes, taps go dry in numerous areas
SITI NURSURAYA ALI New Straits Times 23 Oct 16;

KUALA LUMPUR: Several areas in Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang are experiencing temporary water disruption due to the closure of the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plant following another case of odour pollution at 7.30am today.

The odour pollution is believed to have originated from the Nilai industrial area in Negri Sembilan.

In a statement, Syabas Head of Corporate Communications Amin Lin Abdullah said the main areas experiencing temporary water disruption are – Hulu Langat district: Bangi, Bandar Bukit Mahkota, Kajang, Semenyih and Rinching; Kuala Langat District: Morib, Banting, Bandar Saujana Putra, Bandar Rimbayu and Telok Panglima Garang; Petaling District: 1-27 USJ, Puchong and Serdang.

Meanwhile, in Sepang district, areas affected are Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, Bandar Nusa Putra, Putra Heights, Pulau Meranti, Kota Warisan, Bandar Bukit Puchong and Sungai Merab.

A full list of affected areas is available online at www.syabas.com.my Amin said that emergency water supply is being sent with the help of tankers to affected areas and critical premises, such as hospitals and dialysis centres.

"We have also sent water tankers to Serdang Hospital which is being affected by the disruption," he added.

Consumers can get the latest information and details of areas affected via the Syabas smart phone application "mySYABAS".

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Malaysia: Water rationing ends in Mersing

The Star 24 Oct 16;

JOHOR BARU: Some 50,000 residents in Mersing can heave a sigh of relief as the six-month scheduled water supply exercise ends today following an improvement in the Congok dam’s water level.

State Public Works, Rural and Regional Development Committee chairman Datuk Hasni Mohammad said water rationing has come to an end with rainfall and effective measures taken to solve the water issue.

In a statement, he said although the water level at the dam was still below the critical level, Saj Holdings Sdn Bhd was confident that the Tenglu water treatment plant could help ensure regular water supply.

Hasni added that the RM3.56mil raw water transmission project from the Nitar water treatment plant, which is expected to be completed by the end of November, would also relieve the problem at Mersing.

Saj and the Johor Water Regulatory Board had studied the rainfall pattern in the area, he added.

However, Hasni said water rationing might resume if the dry spell returns.

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Malaysia: Selangor going all out to fight dengue

The Star 23 Oct 16;

SHAH ALAM: Alarmed by the 45,013 dengue cases in Selangor that have resulted in 66 deaths so far this year, the state is on an all-out mission to combat the outbreak.

Selangor Housing Committee chairman Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad said the government was serious in its effort to clean up the state from the outbreak.

Iskandar said this during a joint anti-Aedes operation initiated by the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council at the Angsana Apartment in Pandan Indah yesterday.

He explained that the only way to combat dengue was for Malaysians to start being responsible for their neighbourhood by getting involved in cleaning up their drains and not adopt foreign workers’ culture of discarding rubbish everywhere.

“People’s attitudes need to change to ensure we have a clean and safe environment.

“MPAJ was chosen for the operation because it is the local council with the highest number of dengue cases.

“This year, MPAJ recorded 3,391 cases up to Oct 19 in which two areas – Angsana Apartment (13 cases) and Pandan Indah 940 apartment (19 cases) – were hotspots for dengue,” he said.

Meanwhile, Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh led a team of enforcement personnel from the Petaling Health Department, Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) and residents from USJ11 in a joint search-and-destroy Aedes mosquito operation.

She said the residents and the personnel were divided into 11 teams before they went around the area which had been one of the hotspots in Subang Jaya.

“The operation was concentrated mainly at the backlanes because residents have a tendency to dump all sorts of stuff there,” she said.

The fact that the backlanes were common properties, she added, required additional supervision because it would be difficult for the enforcement team to act on culprits who caused the Aedes breeding.

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Malaysia: 85 households issued notices for not separating waste

NORBAITI PHAHARORADZI The Star 24 Oct 16;

KOTA TINGGI: Eighty-five households have been issued notices for failing to separate their waste in accordance with the separation-at -source policy.

Deputy Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique said the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) had checked about 150,000 homes in six states and two Federal Territories from June 1 to Oct 20.

“We do not want to force people to obey the rules of waste separation by taking stern action such as fines, but to encourage them to adopt it as a culture,” she said.

The notices served to the errant ones did not carry any punishment.

Halimah was speaking to reporters after attending the SWCorp separation-at-waste programme at Sri Saujana flats in Taman Sri Saujana here yesterday.

Since Sept 1 last year, it was compulsory for households in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Pahang, Johor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Perlis and Kedah to separate their waste.

Halimah said SWCorp and its appointed concession company must continue carrying out more campaigns to raise awareness on waste separation.

Commenting on Budget 2017, Halimah said the ministry would plan the People’s Housing Scheme (PPR) according to the needs of each state within their allocations in Budget 2017.

The ministry would build 9,850 PPR houses with RM134mil.

A total of 11,250 PPR houses are being built with RM576mil.

The budget also allocated RM300mil for 1Malaysia Main­tenance Fund to repair facilities at flats and 113 PPR.

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Indonesian villages rewarded for not burning to tackle annual haze crisis

Jewel Topsfield Sydney Morning Herald 23 Oct 16;

Riau, Sumatra: Haji Muhammad Yunus is in a cantankerous mood.

A diminutive man in a peci cap and blue batik shirt, Yunus is the head of a tiny village, Sering in the Sumatran province of Riau, one of the areas worst affected by last year's deadly haze crisis.

This toxic haze, which chokes South-east Asia year after year, is caused by fires on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

Most are deliberately lit because burning is the cheapest and easiest way to clear land for palm oil and other crops.

But there will be no fires in Sering if Yunus has anything to do with it.

Last year Sering was one of nine villages that signed up to a program that promised lucrative rewards if the community did not burn over the dry season – July to October in Indonesia.

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Alas, it missed out. A fire on the outskirts of the village last October destroyed 11 hectares of peatland forest and the community's dream of winning up to 100 million rupiah ($10,000) towards a sports centre.

"Now no money, we can't plan," scowls Yunus, his shoulders slumped as he stands outside the desolate village office, flanked by piles of gravel and ugly scrubland dotted with blackened tree stumps.

Humiliatingly, the village chief had to stand by as neighbouring villages jubilantly asked for their reward money to be spent on a local market, security booths, a mosque and fire-fighting equipment.

Yunus blames the Sering fire on opportunistic "outsiders" who burned without the permission of the village. "It cost us … we regret such behaviour."

But the program goes for two years and this fire season the community of Sering has been vigilant. A sign warning forest burning carries a maximum 15-year jail sentence has been erected on the site of last October's transgression.

With just days to go before the end of the fire season, Yunus is hopeful this time Sering will win the coveted reward. "Inshallah [if Allah wills it], there is no fire so far," he says.

The Fire-Free Village Program aims to prevent fires by providing incentives to villagers to stop burning their land.

What makes it especially interesting is that it is funded not by the government or an NGO but by one of the world's biggest pulp and paper companies.

On the face of it, this seems a bit like turkeys voting for Christmas: forestry giants are widely blamed for being a major contributor to the annual fires.

An analysis of World Resources Institute data in September last year, for example, found 37 per cent of the fires in Sumatra were on pulpwood concessions.

But in recent years the world's major pulp and paper companies have been desperate to fight their green villain reputations.

In 2014 Indonesian pulp and paper behemoth APRIL invited Craig Tribolet, a charismatic Australian forester and firefighter from Bathurst, to have a look at the company's fire management at its plantation in Riau.

The rangy, silver-haired Tribolet was pleasantly surprised by the company's "terrific" fire-fighting capacity.

It spent $US2 million a year on 260 full-time firefighters, helicopters, airboats, water pumps, lookout towers, you name it.

But like Indonesia as a whole, APRIL was focused on what Tribolet calls, in his laconic Aussie way, "putting the wet stuff on the red stuff".

"One thing that had been missed was the concept of prevention – literally stopping fires before they happen," Tribolet says. "Give me $1 in prevention and I will save you $5 in suppression."

Tribolet enthusiasm is contagious. After a 15-minute pitch, APRIL asked him to devise a $US1 million a year fire prevention program.

The Australian selected nine villages to trial the program that were just outside the company's plantation in Riau and identified as being at high risk of fire.

"The vast majority of fires we were going to were from community burning either just within or just outside of our concession," Tribolet says.

Under the Fire-Free Village program, the nine villages were offered assistance to clear their land using machinery instead of fire.

Village crew leaders were paid a salary to buzz around in red shirts emblazoned with the company logo spreading the no-burn message.

Rewards were offered to those villages that did not burn, children were taught "Smoke-free is cool!" as part of a community education campaign and the air quality was monitored.

Ironically, a plume of smoke greets us as we drive into one of the villages.

Last year Pelalawan almost reached fire-free status. The village received a half-reward of 50 million rupiah because a small blaze – probably caused by a cooking fire – wiped out less than a hectare of land.

We discuss whether today's admittedly small fire, used to clear land for a vegetable garden for the women's association, will see the village again penalised.

"This is not really burning land, it's like burning garbage," argues village crew leader Afrizal. "We know the regulation, which is why we are doing it in stages."

Tribolet is sympathetic. It's a controlled, supervised burn at the beginning of the wet season and there is no way the fire could get out of control.

But technically it's still a fire, so it will be reported, and an independent panel will decide if a breach has occurred.

This is all potentially embarrassing in front of the media, but Tribolet is unflappable. "If I only tell you the good news one thing people miss is the heterogeneity of communities," he says.

Before Tribolet came to work for APRIL he had never heard of the expression "greenwashing" – a form of PR spin to deceptively make an organisation appear environmentally responsible. He loves the term: "That's why I tell the guys not to oversell this."

But an independent review of the Fire-Free Village Program by Singapore-based company Carbon Conservation would suggest he is being modest about the success of the program in reducing fire.

The review, commissioned by APRIL, found the amount of burned area within the nine villages had shrunk from 531 hectares in 2014 to just 53 hectares in 2015.

This is despite the fact that last year's fire season in Indonesia was one of the worst on record: fires raged through 2.1 million hectares of land resulting in catastrophic haze across south-east Asia.

Dry conditions, exacerbated by the El Nino effect, and flammable drained peatland, led to what has been described as an "eco-apocalypse".

The Indonesian government puts the death toll at 24 but a recent study suggests more than 100,000 may have died prematurely because of exposure to fine particle pollution.

More than 500,000 cases of acute respiratory tract infections were reported, schools and airports were closed and about a third of the world's remaining orangutans were threatened. The haze contributed to about 3 per cent of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions in 2015.

"Considering the seriousness of the fire and haze crisis I was surprised to find the Fire-Free Village Program as the most comprehensive and programmatic solution that I have seen in the nine years we have worked in conservation and climate change," writes review author Dorjee Sun.

An Australian entrepreneur, Sun's work trying to persuade firms to invest in a carbon trading solution to tackle the problems of deforestation in Indonesia was chronicled in the 2008 film The Burning Season.

In 2012, a Fairfax investigation revealed a deal Sun had set up with the government of Aceh to develop a carbon credit scheme had stalled indefinitely, leaving the community bitterly disillusioned.

But "rather than a lofty goal ideal like carbon credits", Sun writes in the review, village leaders expressed their support for No-Burn Village Rewards because "they were provided a clear, tangible and achievable goal".

"We believe the Fire-Free Village program is beginning to really address the root cause of the fires."

Greenpeace, however, is more critical. "It is a good program in terms of the company now trying to engage with the community but that is not enough," says forest campaigner Yuyun Indradi.

Yuyun believes the program is trying to subtly divert blame to the villages when it is the draining, clearing and planting on peatlands that has made them so fire-prone in the first place. "It is strengthening the stigma that fires are caused by the community."

In June 2015 APRIL announced it would stop using wood from natural forests and forested peatland and only use the wood grown on its acacia and eucalyptus plantations.

However Greenpeace says existing plantations on drained peatland continue to do damage and peatlands should be restored to their natural condition. "Ultimately, companies like APRIL have to find alternative species that are endemic to peat or wetland-tolerant," Yuyun says.

In pride of place on the wall of a gappy wooden shack in Pelalawan is a photo of eight-year-old Tengku Muhamad Marcel. He wears a mortarboard and poses with a globe of the earth. These photos, common in homes across the archipelago, reflect the pride Indonesians take in their children's education. However last year Muhamad's school closed as concentrations of air pollutant PM10 reached as high as 2000 in Riau (the World Health Organisation guideline is 50).

"We were very concerned for our oldest son, who had to stay out of school for two months," says his father Tengku Antonia. "It really had no effect because the moment he didn't have school he just went outside to play."

Many of the local kids tore through the ochre haze on their bikes without wearing face masks. Tengku insisted his son only remove his mask inside. But their shack is open to the elements and it too filled with haze. Tengku's wife was heavily pregnant at the time. "Since everyone was suffering, how do you explain it?" Tengku says. "Morning, night, afternoon, it was just the same, all dark. We had difficulty breathing. You couldn't see very far – you could only see two to three metres."

Pelalawan villagers triumphantly show us the motorised water pump they bought with their half-reward. "It is a good program so of course we accepted it," Tengku says.

He owns two hectares of undeveloped land but even after the program ends, Tengku insists he will not burn it to plant crops. "There are other ways of doing it," he says. "If not APRIL, maybe the government will assist. Maybe not with money, but help to open the land in a safe way that doesn't endanger others."

Sustainable agricultural assistance is the one area the review found the Fire-Free Village Program only achieved "low success", although it noted there was high potential.

The target was ambitious. The program offered to prepare up to 20 hectares of land for agriculture in each of the nine villages. Experts from the University of Riau would advise on the best crop. "However in execution it appears that this project has had limited success," the review says.

In late 2015 when the review was conducted only 80 of the promised 270 hectares had been cleared. Most of the plots were small – under half a hectare – and the excavators on offer were simply too big.

"We couldn't get community interest," Tribolet says. This year the villagers were offered chainsaws, brush cutters, fertilisers and hand tractors, which better suited farmers' needs. "We are learning as we go along."

Yunus, the village head of Sering, complains of delays obtaining permits to clear land. Land ownership in Indonesia is often unknown or murky, with overlapping claims, which bog down the permit process. Restrictions on clearing in some areas, such as within 200 metres of a river, cause further headaches.

"The Fire-Free Forest Program will fail in the long-term without alternative sustainable income from agriculture without the need for burning," the review warns.

One solution may be to move to other sources of income such as swallow houses. Swallow nests, which are held together with bird saliva, are a delicacy in Chinese cuisine with a bowl of bird nest soup costing up to $100 in high end restaurants. They are also used in Chinese medicine.

Tomjon, the leader of Kuala Panduk village, says in the review he has been encouraging investment in community owned swallow houses. "They can produce two kilograms per house per month and then sell … for 8.5 million rupiah per kilo for high quality [nests]."

Seven villages have now received the full reward of 100 million rupiah and five villages have received half-rewards. For the most recent fire season APRIL extended the program to 18 villages. "Villages are phoning us now," Tribolet says.

In March this year APRIL formed the Fire-Free Alliance with a group of companies including palm oil giants Wilmar and Musim Mas, and NGOs including the Singapore-based People's Movement to Stop the Haze.

"The goal is that within three to five years the Fire Free Village program will be rolled out successfully in 100 villages," Sun tells Fairfax Media.

In 2017, the first nine villages will graduate from the program and become what is optimistically dubbed "fire resistant".

"The true test is whether villages remain fire free," Tribolet says.

He is exploring ways of helping them stay on track, such as microloans for swallow houses or fish farms.

Scale Up, a non government group that assists rural communities engage with government and companies that have licenses overlapping with community land, warns farmers will revert to burning unless they have an effective alternative.

Burning is a cheap and effective method – sometimes the only method – for poor farmers to clear land in order to support their families.

"Only when our bellies our full can we worry about social issues," Pelalawan village leader Edi Hanafi says in the review.

Scale Up chief executive Hary Oktavian believes the Fire-Free Village Program is yet to provide a viable long-term alternative to burning.

"The reward should be a farming technology applicable to their conditions - the current reward is not providing that," he says.

"The Fire-Free Village Program could be applied nationally, but only if it provides an alternative way of clearing land."

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Indonesia: Ratification of Paris Agreement not enough : NGO

Antara 23 Oct 16;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The decision of the House of Representatives (DPR) to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change should be followed with policy to be implemented in natural resource management, environmentalists said.

"Ratification is not enough as the country has the responsibility to meet its pledge, to meet its commitment of reducing 29 percent of greenhouse gas emission by 2030 and to prevent ecological disaster," the non governmental organization concerned with environment Wahana Lingkungan Hidup (Walhi) said in a statement here on Saturday.

Walhi called on the government to gradually phase out the use of fossil energy such as coal in favor of renewable energy.

In addition, the ratification decision should also be followed with a halt to expansion of mono-culture plantations such as oil palm plantations and industrial timber estates.

Walhi blamed expansion of oil palm plantations and Industrial Timber Estates for deforestation and forest fires, which have devastated millions of hectares of the countrys tropical forests.

It said ratification should mark a serious and concrete move to improve the management of natural resources by the government, which already started with moratorium.

A law maker from the Commission IV of the Parliament Akmal Pasluddin called on the government to make the climate change as a central issue as Indonesia has been in the center of international attention for its pledge to slash 29 percent of carbon dioxide emission by 2030.

"The world looks to Indonesia for reducing carbon dioxide emission , hoping that Indonesia would succeed in bringing to reality its commitment," Akmal said.

The international expectation is natural as Indonesian forests are among the largest ten in the world, he said.

Indonesia has the 8th largest forests in the world after Russia, Brazil, Canada, The United States, China, Australia , the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Based on the Forestry Ministry, Indonesia has tropical forests the second largest in the world after Brazil.

"What worrying us is the rapid cut in size of our forests that need more serious addressing by the government, Akmal said.

He said destruction of forests in various parts of the world including Indonesia has significantly contributed to climate change.

"Therefore, it is urgent for the government to make the climate change as a priority issue to be handled," he said.

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.

The language of the agreement was negotiated by representatives of 195 countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015.

It was opened for signature on 22 April 2016 (Earth Day) in a ceremony in New York City.

As of October 2016, 191 UNFCCC members have signed the treaty, 84 of which have ratified it. After the European Union ratified the agreement in October 2016, there were enough countries that had ratified the agreement that produce enough of the worlds greenhouse gases for the agreement to enter into force.

The agreement will take effect on 4 November 2016.

The head of the Paris Conference, Frances foreign minister Laurent Fabius, said this "ambitious and balanced" plan is a "historic turning point" in the goal of reducing global warming.

Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya said the Parliament is fully aware of the important of ratifying the Paris Agreement.

Earlier, Dewi Coriyati, a Commission VII lawmaker, urged the government to immediately ratify the Paris Agreement as it concerns climate change that need serious addressing.

"The ratification is important for Indonesia, being a country of group of islands. Otherwise some of our islands could sink below the sea surface," Dewi was quoted as saying.

The Indonesian government signed the Paris Agreement on April 22 in 2016 in New York. As an implication, Indonesia has to ratify the agreement into law.(*)

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UN Habitat III summit aims to shape future urban living

Mark Kinver BBC News 21 Oct 16;

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on city leaders to make "tough decisions" in order to provide safe and sustainable cities in the future.

Mr Ban made his remarks in an address at the UN Habitat III conference that is only held once every 20 years.

Many urban areas, which are home to more than half of the world population, continue to grow unplanned and unregulated, experts warn.
An estimated 35,000 people attended the three-day gathering in Quito, Ecuador.

"Mayors are at the forefront of the battle for sustainability," Mr Ban told an audience at the world assembly of mayors, which was being held at the Habitat III conference.

"You are faced with the immediate daily demands of your people; for housing, transport, infrastructure and sustainable urban development."

But, he added, they also had to "make the tough decisions on what issues to prioritise" because they had to operate within tight budgets.

Mr Ban told the city leaders and politicians that they were at the heart of delivering global agreements, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.

"Take strong ownership of this vital agenda - stand up for the people you represent," he urged them.

'The forgotten agenda'

The conference, which the UN described as one of the largest in the organisation's history, was focused on adopting a blueprint that would help shape and deliver urban development over the next 20 years.

The New Urban Agenda recognised that urbanisation had to be seen as a tool for development in the 21st Century, explained Joan Clos, UN Habitat's executive director and the conference's secretary general.

He said that recent events, such as the global financial crisis and the urban revolts during the Arab Spring, had highlighted the importance of sustainable urban development.

"It's a proposal to revisit urbanisation," Dr Clos observed, "and avoid the mistakes that have been developing in the past 20 years.
"When we look at the statistics, (where) the level of planned organisation has decreased, the quality of the planning has also decreased.

"That has created a very deadly situation where a lot of people are suffering in many cities for a lack of urban design, a lack of adequate management and a lack of urban finances. We need to recover that," he said.

He said there was a need to go "back to basics" and called on delegates not to see the document as a new agenda but to see it as a blueprint for the "forgotten agenda".

20th Century legacy

Habitat III is formally known as the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development.

It is the third in a series of global gatherings that are held once every 20 years. The first was staged in Vancouver, Canada in 1976, and the second was hosted by Istanbul, Turkey, in 1996.

During that time, the world's human population has shifted from being a rural population to being an urban one, with an estimated 54% of people now living in urban areas. Projections forecast that percentage is set to reach 66% by the middle of this century.

In 1950, less than one-in-three people lived in urban areas. The world had just two so-called "megacities" with populations in excess of 10 million: New York and Tokyo. Today, there are more than 20.

Greater Tokyo, the world's biggest urban area, has expanded from 13 million residents in 1950, to today's figure of 38 million.

It is estimated that almost 200,000 people each day are moving to urban areas. Developing nations are shouldering the vast majority of this burden, leaving them struggling to cope with the huge influx of people. Some cities' populations are 40 times larger than what they were in 1950.

This has resulted in the rapid expansion of unplanned and unregulated "slums" on the edge of cities.

Organisers of the Habitat III conference observed: "It is now well understood that slums and the related informal settlements are a spontaneous form of urbanisation, consisting of a series of survival strategies by the urban poor, most borne out of poverty and exclusion."

The adoption of the New Urban Agenda by delegates from 167 nations on Thursday is an attempt to reverse the "legacy of the 20th Century": uncontrolled urbanisation and urban poverty.

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Best of our wild blogs: 23 Oct 16

Mangrove Puffer and Mudskippers
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Revision to the Common Names of Butterflies 5
Butterflies of Singapore

Afternoon Walk At Venus Drive (22 Oct 2016)
Beetles@SG BLOG

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Cambodia's villagers lose ground – literally – to Singapore's expansion

SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS Singapore is buying tens of millions of tons of sand for its land reclamation projects. Their dredging is destroying Cambodia's coastal mangrove forests, and fishermen's livelihoods with them. But the villagers are pushing back.
Michele Penna Christian Science Monitor 21 Oct 16;

KOH SRALAV, CAMBODIA — Singapore is a long way from this remote Cambodian fishing village – nearly a thousand miles across the sea. But as the bustling city-state grows, Koh Sralav and hamlets like it die. All because of sand.

Singapore is expanding; its land reclamation projects make it the largest sand importer in the world. Politically connected Cambodian firms have rushed to meet the demand. Local fishermen, and one of Southeast Asia’s largest mangrove forests, are paying the price.

Sand dredgers have deepened the shallow estuaries around this village by several meters. That has created strong currents which have eaten away at the riverbanks, destroying long stretches of mangrove.

The crabs and fish that once lived among the mangrove roots, the mainstay of most family economies around here, are disappearing.

Villagers say their protests eventually pushed the dredgers out. But that victory came too late for Thy Rya, a young woman whose husband has left Koh Sralav. “My husband could not find crabs anymore, so he went to work as a construction worker in Koh Kong city,” she says.

Before the dredgers arrived, she recalls, her fisherman father could make the equivalent of $12 a day. By the time her husband left, their family income had decreased to a small fraction of that.

Today, the only signs of the business that ruined Ms. Rya’s livelihood are abandoned piles of sand on the riverbanks and rusting barges, sinking into the muddy water.

A murky business

The dredgers are more active further east, in Andong Toek, where barges and excavators churn up the river right in front of local peoples’ houses. The water is slick with oil stains and hardly a fishing boat is to be seen; catches are down 90 percent, says resident Thith Kun. “All the fish and crabs are gone,” he laments. “It is really difficult to live. I have four children and I do not know how to feed them.”

Like many in Koh Kong, a coastal province in Southwestern Cambodia, Mr. Kun has fallen prey to an industry whose operations are shrouded in secrecy. It is not clear, for instance, why miners have been allowed to dig for sand in mangrove forests that are protected under the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty to preserve wetlands across the globe.

Nor does it appear that the mining companies followed legal requirements to carry out environmental impact assessments (EIAs) before dredgers got the green light.

Local opinion, meant to be an important element in any feasibility study, was certainly not taken into account.

“Before the dredgers arrived, some people came,” says Sos Nara, a middle-aged fisherman who lives in Koh Sralav “We said we did not want any dredging, but they told us that whether we agreed to it or not, they would come anyway.”

This is hardly unusual in Cambodia, local observers say. “Sometimes the authorities say they have EIAs, but in reality they never consult with people,” contends Vann Sophath, a land reform expert with the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. “In most cases, local authorities do nothing about this.”

Last February, the Ministry of Mines and Energy announced it would “soon” release studies carried out by two mining companies working in Koh Kong. But even if that happens, it might be already too late for the affected communities, which have been protesting against the dredgers for years.

Some have paid a price for doing so. Three members of Mother Nature, a Koh Kong-based environmental group, were arrested last year and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence for “threatening to cause destruction, defacement, or damage.” Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, the organization's co-founder, was deported from the country.

The sand dredging is taking place without any control whatsoever, Mr. Gonzalez-Davidson complains. “Licenses have been issued with complete disregard for relevant laws and procedures, and ignoring the widespread voices of discontent from the local fishing communities,” he says.

That suggests to some observers that highly placed Cambodians are involved in the murky sand trade. In a 2009 report, anti-corruption watchdog Global Witness found that two senators belonging to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party owned dredging companies.

“Judging by the systematic violation of the law, the volume of money being made in the sector, and the level of repression by state organs against those opposing the sand mining, people at the very top of the government and their corrupt business partners are very much engaged,” Gonzalez-Davidson believes.

Rising opposition

The sand industry attracts little international attention, but it is big business in Southeast Asia. Singapore alone imported 517 million tons of sand in the two decades up to 2012. Between 2010 and 2015 it bought 56 million tons from Cambodia, its largest supplier since Malaysia and Indonesia banned sand exports on environmental grounds.

The booming city-state has plans to add land area the equivalent of Manhattan by 2030, which could be bad news for the fishermen of Koh Kong province.

But they have not lost hope. Their protests forced the dredgers out of Koh Sralav, they say, and they intend to go on protesting. “Before Mother Nature came, the company dredged a lot, there were so many ships,” says Mr. Nara. “But after the protests, they could not go on like before.”

Gonzalez-Davidson is optimistic, too. “There are more and more effective and engaged activists on the ground, and exposure of these issues in the media is ... increasing,” he says. “I am hopeful that the new generation of government officials who are coming in will eventually be able to reverse things.”

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Bukit Timah Nature Reserve reopens after two years of restoration works

Today Online 22 Oct 16;

SINGAPORE — Bukit Timah Nature Reserve reopened on Saturday (Oct 22) with new enhancements for public safety and conservation efforts, following two years of restoration works.

The Reserve, which houses Singapore’s tallest hill at 163m, began restoration works in September 2014. Among the improvements include railings along trails to reduce footpaths into the surrounding forest, new boardwalks and a slip-resistant trail, as well as an upgraded visitor centre.

The National Parks Board (NParks) added that the two-year closure allowed authorities to conduct a biodiversity survey to help provide better understanding of the conservation status and distribution of plants and animals.

Prior to its closure, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve received more than 400,000 visitors yearly. The human traffic had resulted in soil compaction, erosion and gully formation, giving rise to poor forest regeneration and unpleasant hiking experience for visitors, NParks said.

As such slope stabilisation was one of the key measures taken by NParks in the restoration work. Sections of three slopes along the Main Road trail have now been repaired to ensure slope stability and public safety; and to minimise the potential of slope failure, a two-pronged approach was adopted – micro piles were used to stabilise the slopes, while plants were grown on the slopes for soil retention.

Except for the slope stabilisation work, no machinery was used on site for the trail repair, according to NParks. The fabrication of the boardwalk and steps were also done off-site and hand-carried into the reserve, and works were carried out only in the day to avoid disturbing the animals.

The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore’s second ASEAN Heritage Park, is home to around 40 per cent of the nation’s native species. It occupies 163 hectares of Singapore’s land area.


Bukit Timah Nature Reserve reopens after 2 years of restoration work
Kimberly Spykerman Channel NewsAsia 22 Oct 16;

SINGAPORE: The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve reopened on Saturday (Oct 22) after two years of restoration works and enhancements.

The two-year closure allowed the National Parks Board (NParks) to repair and enhance the slopes and trails to make it safer for the public. Increased usage over the years of the popular nature reserve had caused the trails to widen and small landslides also occurred in some areas.

And so, slope stabilisation works were carried out and trails were restored - with intermediate steps added to the more challenging routes, to make hiking more accessible.

During this period, sensitive enhancements were also carried out to protect the nature reserve's biodiversity.

These measures include installing a raised boardwalk at several sections to minimise the impact of trampling, and the installation of railings to encourage visitors to keep to the designated trails - reducing footprint into the surrounding forest.

While restoration work was ongoing, a comprehensive survey for the reserve was initiated in early 2015. Due to conclude in 2017, it has already yielded some interesting findings.

For example, researchers recorded the first sighting of the Malayan porcupine and slow loris at the reserve.

NParks also said it intends form a "Friends of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve" community, which comprises the nature community, residents, and recreational users.

The group will play a part in ensuring education, research and recreation will be sensitive to the conservation of the nature reserve.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, who reopened the reserve, encouraged Singaporeans to come and see what it had to offer, while recognising the responsibilities they have.

"We are not just co-owners, but also custodians and stewards ... we protect it, we preserve it, and make sure we have this slice of nature for future generations to enjoy," he said.

VISITORS GIVE THUMBS UP

Visitors to the nature reserve said the new additions make the park more user-friendly. "You look at all the footpaths - in particular those off the beaten track, they're now much more aligned, and it's much easier to walk, especially for the elderly and kids," said a member of the public. "And also it looks much more well-kept."

Another visitor added: "The changes suit people who don't want it to be so muddy, and want it to be more comfortable and easy for walking. I think it's good."

According to NParks' Group Director (Conservation) Wong Tuan Wah, the enhancements to the park were undertaken with full sensitivity to the environment.

"In the process of doing this, we were very mindful that we have to be very sensitive to ensure that whatever work we do here, we don't create any more impact to the environment or forest itself," he said.

"So in this respect, a lot of the work done here, are done manually. A lot of walking trails do not allow for heavy machinery to come in, so a lot of the materials had to be pre-fabricated on-site and then brought in, and the trails are restored using manual labour."

Mr Wong also added that the presence of the Malayan porcupine and slow loris is a good indicator of the forest's health.

"It actually indicates that the forest is still in very good condition, and that many of these species are still around here," he said. "For example, some species we thought were extinct - by definition, have not been seen for more than 50 years - we rediscovered them in this survey."

- CNA/rw

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Reopens after Completion of Restoration Works
NParks Media Release 22 Oct 2016;

Singapore, 22 October 2016 — The National Parks Board (NParks) today reopened the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve following the completion of restoration works and sensitive enhancements that spanned two years. The two-year closure has allowed NParks to repair and enhance the slopes and trails for public safety, restore the forest habitat to safeguard one of the last vestiges of Singapore’s primary tropical rainforests in the heart of the islands, and conduct a two-year biodiversity survey to help provide better understanding of the conservation status and distribution of plants and animals.

Visitors can now explore the Reserve using restored trails and boardwalks, and at the upgraded Visitor Centre, learn about Singapore’s natural heritage and ongoing biodiversity conservation efforts. Minister for National Development and second Minister for Finance, Lawrence Wong, together with Advisers of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, planted two Endocomia canarioides trees to mark the occasion.

Restoration works to conserve the forests in the Reserve

Restoration works on the Reserve began in September 2014 and concluded in October 2016. During this time, slope stabilisation works were carried out as a pre-emptive measure to ensure public safety. NParks also restored trails and added intermediate steps to more challenging routes, making hiking more accessible to the elderly and young. Following the completion of slope stabilisation and trail repair works at Summit Path, the Main Road leading to the Summit was open on weekends since April 2015. The popular Dairy Farm Loop was also subsequently reopened on weekends starting in August 2016.

In addition, NParks carried out sensitive enhancements to protect the Reserve’s biodiversity, such as enrichment planting to enhance the forest habitat, as well as the installation of a raised boardwalk at several sections to minimise the impact of trampling on leaf litter organisms and soil compaction on tree roots. Railings have been installed beside the trails to encourage visitors to keep to designated trails, which would reduce footpaths widening into the surrounding forest.

A variety of sustainable features were installed at the upgraded Visitor Centre, including the provision of skylight panels at the exhibition gallery to reduce the need for electrical lighting, and the repurposing of windows into terraces for planter beds. More details on these features can be found in Media Factsheet A.

Upgraded amenities for enhanced visitor experience

The exhibition gallery at the upgraded Visitor Centre will educate visitors on the special importance of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and ongoing conservation efforts, as well as Singapore’s native biodiversity. Building on previous content about the Bukit Timah and Central Catchment Nature Reserves, the exhibition’s themes have been expanded to encompass forest ecology, the changing landscape of the Reserve over the years with the addition of buffer areas, as well as the Reserve’s biodiversity, interpreted through life-sized animal models and interactive stations. The permanent exhibition has been designed to engage visitors’ senses with tactile components, such as seeds collected from plants locally found only in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The upgraded amenities around the Visitor Centre also include a toilet block with a wash bay, drinking fountain and benches for rest.

Interim findings from comprehensive survey of Reserve

While restoration works were ongoing, a comprehensive survey for the reserve, supported by HSBC through the Garden City Fund, was initiated in early 2015. The survey will conclude in 2017.

Interim findings from the survey have revealed many rediscoveries and new records in the Reserve, such as the Soejatmia ridleyi, the only clambering bamboo native to Singapore, the Scindapsus lucens, a climber which is a new record in Singapore’s native plant list, as well as a new site locality for the endemic Singapore Freshwater Crab (Johora singaporensis). In addition, researchers have found more than five potentially new species of spiders from the Paculla and the Aetius genus, which are currently in the process of being described. Other key findings include the Malayan Porcupine (Hystrix brachyura), which was recorded at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve for the first time during the survey, and the Slow Loris (Nycticebus coucang), which was not recorded in previous surveys. More details of these findings are in Media Factsheet B.

This survey involved NParks staff, science academics and individuals with domain knowledge of specific taxonomic groups. Information gathered from this latest survey will help NParks to continue to sensitively manage the Reserve.

Prior to the recent survey, a team of international researchers has been monitoring a 2-hectare survey plot within the forest since 1993. The data collected contributes to global research on forest dynamics and ecology.

The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore’s second ASEAN Heritage Park, is home to around 40% of our native species even though it occupies only 163 hectares of Singapore’s land area.

Friends of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

In addition to management strategies grounded in scientific research, the active participation of all stakeholders and the community as co-owners and stewards is an imperative for the conservation of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

NParks today announced that it intends to form a “Friends of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve” community. The “Friends of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve” group will include members from the nature community, recreational users, schools and nearby residents. The objective is to ensure that education, research and recreation will be sensitive to the conservation of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. One example of ownership and stewardship is the Bukit Timah Wildlife Network. Spearheaded by Bukit Timah Community Club (CC) Youth Executive Committee (YEC), and comprising residents, volunteers, schools, government agencies and civic organisations, this group has been raising visitors’ awareness of the importance of reducing human-monkey interactions by not interfering in the animals’ natural diet, and eliciting visitors’ commitment to refrain from feeding the wildlife or leave litter behind. More details on the “Friends of the Parks” scheme can be found in Media Factsheet C.



Factsheet A - Restoration works and sensitive enhancements at Bukit Timah Natural Reserve

Factsheet B - Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Survey Interim Update

Factsheet C - Friends of the Parks

Factsheet D - Tree planted by Minister


MEDIA FACTSHEET C

Friends of the Parks Scheme

The Friends of the Parks scheme is a ground-led initiative to promote stewardship and responsible use of our Parks. The scheme is modelled after the successful Friends of Ubin Network (FUN) and was conceived during the SGFuture conversations held at the Future of Us Exhibition in Jan 2016, where there were calls by the participants for greater community ownership and stewardship of our parks.

The Friends of the Parks Scheme consists of localised communities representing active stakeholders and volunteers in our parks. Each community is headed by a committee to represent the interests of the various stakeholder groups within the park’s ecosystem. Through the formation of the Friends of the Parks community, members will be able to play a more active role in promoting active and responsible uses of our Parks through ground-led programmes and initiatives.

Each Friends of the Parks scheme is headed by a committee consisting of up to 10 members representing the different user groups within the Parks. Each term of membership will be for two years. Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Desmond Lee has taken on the role of advisor to the Friends of the Parks Scheme.

In addition to existing NParks volunteers, stakeholders such as hikers, bikers, exercise groups, tenants, nature photographers, researchers and regular users of the park will be invited to join the Friends of the Parks community. By involving stakeholders, Friends of the Parks will better represent the composition of the park user community.

Examples of things that can be initiated:

Ideas for projects relating to conservation, horticulture, events and amenities within the Parks. For example, educational and awareness campaigns could be organised to promote responsible behaviour and etiquette within the Parks. Interest groups such as photography, hiking or community gardening could also be formed. Friends could also organise and participate in activities to maintain the cleanliness of parks and the upkeep of their amenities.

Friends of Parks Scheme

Friends of Chestnut Nature Park, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Park Connector Network and Pulau Ubin were launched on 2 April 2016. The Friends of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve scheme was launched on 22 October 2016. The chairpersons were chosen based on their dedication and passion in championing ground-up initiatives related to nature and greenery

Community Chairperson

Friends of Chestnut Nature Park: N Sivasothi, Senior Lecturer, National University of Singapore
Friends of Park Connector Network: Han Jok Kwang, Chief Information Officer, Venture Corporate Ltd
Friends of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve: Tham Pui San, NParks volunteer
Friends of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve: (More details will be announced later)


For Pulau Ubin, the existing Friends of Ubin Network comes under the Friends
of the Parks scheme but will remain as it is without change to its committee
structure. Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee will continue to host this
group.

Members of the public who are keen to find out more or join the Friends of the
Parks scheme can sign up as a volunteer to the respective parks at
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/contribute/volunteer

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Malaysia, Johor: Decision on polystyrene ban soon

SAZALI MUSA The Star 22 Oct 16;

JOHOR BARU: The state authorities are expected to hold a meeting with the plastic manufacturers association next week to discuss the ban on polystyrene food containers in Johor.

State Health and Environment committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat said the proposal to ban the use of non-biodegradable food containers was because they were bad for the environment.

“Polystyrene does not break down naturally, it can remain an environmental hazard for hundreds of years, clogging up drains and rivers,’’ he said.

Ayub said those that collected water also ended up becoming breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes, leading to dengue outbreak.

He said banning plastic and polystyrene and replacing them with biodegradable food containers would be good for the environment as these were environmentally friendly.

“It takes between 10 and 15 years for the biodegradable food containers to break down naturally,’’ Ayub said after opening the Empowering Society on Managing the Environment Seminar here on Thursday.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin is expected to announce the banning of polystyrene food containers in Johor at the tabling of the state budget next month.

Separately, Ayub said dengue cases in Johor had declined from January until Oct 8 this year, with 9,441 cases compared with 11,812 cases in the same corresponding period last year.

He said the number of fatalities from dengue also went down from 37 cases to 18 cases from January until October 8, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

“The decline is due to the better awareness on maintaining cleanliness of the surrounding areas among the public and continuous cleaning efforts by local councils,’’ said Ayub.

He said the state Health Department would continue to monitor the situation despite the downward trend, including conducting regular fogging at dengue hot spots.

Ayub said construction sites in the Johor Baru district have been identified as the main breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes and the authorities had inspected some 659,757 premises this year.

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Malaysia Malacca CM: Water rationing only if dam levels unsatisfactory

The Star 22 Oct 16;

MALACCA: The Malacca state government will implement scheduled water rationing in two weeks if the water levels at the state's three dams remain unsatisfactory.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said even though the state was experiencing rainfall, the water level at Durian Tunggal, Jus and Asahan dams was still alarming.

"There has been some rain but not at the dam areas, so we have to take precautions and be prepared for any possibility of water rationing.

"Therefore, I urge all parties to impose prudent use of water and to make necessary preparations to store water," he said at a press conference after launching the state-level National Environment Day here, Saturday.

Malacca Water Monitoring Body statistics show the level of Durian Tunggal Dam as being at 39.1%, Jus Dam at 45.5% and Asahan Dam at 61.3%. – Bernama

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