Lower Peirce Reservoir fishing grounds reopened after 140 motoro stingrays removed

Choo Yun Ting Straits Times 7 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE - Fishing grounds at Lower Peirce Reservoir have been reopened after around 140 motoro stingrays were removed.

In a Facebook post on Monday (Jan 7), national water agency PUB said that the non-native stingrays were removed from the reservoir waters with the assistance of the National University of Singapore and the National Parks Board.

The fishing grounds, which reopened on Monday, were closed after motoro rays were sighted at Lower Peirce Reservoir on Dec 20 last year.

However, the fishing grounds at Upper Seletar Reservoir will remain closed until further notice, PUB said.

In December, the agency said that 75 motoro stingrays had been removed from the reservoirs and waterways since 2015.

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Malaysia: Sabah Wildlife Dept still unable to identify source in viral photo of abused turtle

stephanie lee The Star 7 Jan 19;

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah wildlife authorities are still not able to find the source behind a viral photo, believed taken on a boat, which showed a turtle being abused.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said all personnel in the department are involved in finding out the source of the photo, and to investigate whether the incident happened in Sabah.

So far, we have yet to get any information as to who took the photo, where it was taken, and who the perpetrators are,” he said.

The photo, which shows a person sitting on a turtle with another stepping on it, had made its rounds on social media like Facebook and on messaging app WhatsApp.

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Indonesia: Ministry prepares for forest fires following moderate el Nino forecast

Antara 7 Jan 19;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Environment and Forestry Ministry has taken early precautionary measures against land and forest fires, with the climatology agency forecasting moderate El Nino during the period from January to February.

"Moderate El Nino will be experienced in Indonesia from early January to February 2019 that will necessitate the adoption of early anticipatory measures," the ministry`s Director General of Climate Change Ruandha Agung noted in a statement here on Monday.

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Best of our wild blogs: 7 Jan 19

Interesting Ubin Butterflies
Butterflies of Singapore

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Sharing economy hype vs reality in Singapore

KENNETH CHENG Today Online 6 Jan 19;

Each week, TODAY’s long-running Big Read series delves into trends and issues that matter. This week, we examine the impact of big money on the sharing economy, and its effects on consumers. This is a shortened version of the full feature, which can be found here.

SINGAPORE — The sharing economy held much promise when it burst onto the scene in the not-too-distant past, opening up an avenue for people to earn an income by sharing their underused resources with others.

Consumers, too, embraced it in a big way, hoovering up goods and services in nearly every area imaginable, from point-to-point transport to co-working spaces.

But more than a decade after it began its meteoric rise globally, the collaborative movement has come under siege.

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Singapore supplies additional treated water to Malaysia at Johor's request

Channel NewsAsia 6 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE: Singapore's water agency PUB said on Sunday (Jan 6) that it supplied additional treated water to Malaysia this week after pollution disrupted production at Johor's water plants.

"Production at Johor's water plants was disrupted recently by pollution to the river catchment. PUB's Johor River Waterworks was not affected by the incident," said PUB in a statement.

"At Johor’s request, PUB helped to tide Johor residents over the water supply disruption by turning on PUB’s Pasir Gudang offtake and supplying an additional 6 million of gallons per day (mgd) of treated water between 2 and 4 January 2019.

"This was on top of the 16 mgd that we usually supply Johor," it added.

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Philippines: Death toll from storm, landslides climbs to 126

AFP Yahoo News 6 Jan 19;

Manila (AFP) - The death toll from a storm that devastated the Philippines shortly after Christmas rose to 126, authorities said Sunday, adding landslides caused by torrential rain were the top cause.

The storm hit central and eastern Philippine islands on December 29 and caused massive flooding and landslides. More than 100 people died in the mountainous Bicol region southeast of Manila, regional disaster officials said.

While the Bicol region is often hit by deadly typhoons, many people failed to take necessary precautions because the storm was not strong enough to be rated as a typhoon under the government's storm alert system, according to civil defence officials.

Officials also said that many residents were reluctant to leave their homes during the Christmas holidays.

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Best of our wild blogs: 5 Jan 19

Open for registration – Love MacRitchie Walk with NUS Toddycats! on 13 Jan 2019 (Sun)
Love our MacRitchie Forest

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Look Ahead 2019: Environment — New policies may spur companies to up their game

LOW YOUJIN Today Online 4 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE — The Year of Climate Action wrapped up with the public now more aware of the need to fight global warming, going by more than 300,000 pledges from individuals and organisations garnered in 2018.

In the next few years, the focus will shift towards corporates and their role in tackling climate change, which is resulting in rising sea levels and more weather extremes. All eyes will be on several key policies to be rolled out, beginning with the carbon tax from this year.

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Red Dot Power halts electricity retail services amid 'financial challenges'

Cheryl Teh Straits Times 4 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE - Red Dot Power has pulled out of the electricity market, saying on Friday (Jan 4) that it had been a "financially challenging period".

The company was part of the initial soft launch for the open electricity market (OEM) in Jurong, signing up around 3,000 customers, including 120 households.

When the open market roll-out to other parts of the island began on Nov 1, Red Dot Power decided to not sign up new customers as it evaluated its business.

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Singapore suspends raw pork imports from parts of China with African swine fever

Channel NewsAsia 4 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE: Singapore has suspended the import of pork and pork products from parts of China with outbreaks of African swine fever, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) on Friday (Jan 4).

These areas include Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Sichuan, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

Only processed pork products from approved establishments in the affected areas that have been heat-treated to inactivate the virus are allowed to be imported, AVA said.

China has confirmed about 100 cases of African swine fever across 23 provinces since August last year, but experts believe it is worse than reported, Reuters said. The disease is deadly for pigs but does not harm people.

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Malaysia: Man nabbed for selling pangolin on social media

Olivia Miwil New Straits Times 4 Jan 19;

The 20-year-old man from Kota Belud was caught red-handed by the personnel for possessing a live pangolin at the back bonnet of a car at 11am yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: A man who had used social media to sell a protected animal was arrested by Sabah Wildlife Department.

The 20-year-old man from Kota Belud was caught red-handed by the personnel for possessing a live pangolin at the back bonnet of a car at 11am yesterday.

“Acting on a tip-off from public, a team of four enforcement personnel was despatched to track and inspect a grey Proton Persona near a petrol station in Kota Belud town.

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