Malaysia: Housing glut worries over Johor's mega projects

Reme Ahmad and Rennie Whang The Straits Times AsiaOne 23 Feb 15;

MALAYSIA'S biggest reclamation project is raising concerns over a potential oversupply of homes in Johor, marine environmental damage in the Strait of Johor and the effect it may have on the livelihood of hundreds of fishermen.

At Kampung Pok, tucked under the Second Link that connects Johor to Singapore, some residents are making known what they think of Chinese developer Country Garden's ambitious plan to raise four islands that total nearly three times the size of Sentosa at their doorstep.

The massive site will house thousands of luxury homes, if artists' impressions provided by the developer are any indication.

"Villagers protest that the route to Forest City passes through our area," reads a banner in Malay hung along the only road in the area.

Millions of tonnes of sand to shape the four islands will be transported by barges from eastern Johor. Lorries preparing for the mega project have already begun plying the narrow two-lane road in the village to the edge of the reclamation project.

"Why are they using our only road to do this? Everything is dusty and busy, and things will get worse," said villager Mohamad Zain.



The project is to resume at full speed after the Chinese New Year, now that the Department of Environment has given its go-ahead. That is likely to mean a clogged village road as trucks and vans deliver workers, bricks and metal bars, food and cement.

Acting village chief Abu Bakar Mohd Ali, who has a restaurant beside a jetty lined with fishing boats, said the project has caused unhappiness and uncertainty among fishermen and villagers, but he also sees it as "inevitable development catching up with the area".

The villages are bordered by mangrove swamps and the Strait of Johor on one side and hectares of mostly empty land in Nusajaya on the other. The edge of the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia's biggest container port, is just 1km away.

"Sure, there are concerns about the environment and the future, but things have cooled down as the developer has talked to us," said Mr Abu Bakar.

Mr Abdul Malik Sabtu, head of the fishing community in southern Johor, said about 245 full-time fishermen received between RM3,000 (S$1,120) and RM6,200 last year through a government agency to compensate them for a drop in their earnings after reclamation work began last year.

"We have been affected, so the compensation has helped," Mr Abdul Malik said. "We don't know what the future holds."

The future, as gleaned from the rush of developers into the southern Johor investment zone Iskandar, is one of luxury homes in gated communities. The projects are targeted at the wealthy, including Singaporeans, and some units have been sold to buyers from China.

"With all the new projects, I don't think it will be as easy to get tenants as before," said a Singaporean resident of Causeway View, an estate just 600m from the Causeway. He had previously bought a condominium unit in Johor for RM250,000 and rented it out, but he has since sold it.

Recent changes to the vehicle entry permit, toll charges and the minimum property purchase price of RM1 million for foreigners are also a put-off, he added.

Statistics on the number of housing units coming up are not kept by a Johor or federal government agency, as building approvals are granted by the local authorities, such as the Johor Baru City Council and the Central Johor Baru Municipal Council.

A Malaysian real estate consultant said the JB authorities have approved the construction of 80,900 high-rise units, of which 8,000 are being built.

Mr Samuel Tan, executive director of KGV International Property Consultants, said about 90,000 units are expected to be built by 2017. "Many developers in the area are already pulling their brakes. Some may cancel their plans," he said.

The Forest City developers envision four islands totalling 1,386ha that will be joined by roads to one another and to mainland Johor. Artists' impressions on the website of the master developer, Country Garden Pacificview, show dozens of towers of luxury condominiums and landed houses.

The project is a partnership between China's Country Garden Holdings and a company linked to Johor's Sultan Ibrahim Ismail.

Country Garden's Danga Bay project had set off alarm bells over a potential glut of units when it launched a whopping 9,400 homes for sale in 2013. Since then, more Chinese developers have unveiled plans for mega projects.

On the JB side of the Causeway, China developer R&F Properties is reclaiming both sides of the Strait of Johor for its development.

The 47.1ha project offers what it calls a "hopsca" lifestyle - hotels, offices, parks, shopping malls, clubhouses and apartments. Dozens of tower blocks are being planned.

China's Greenland Group, which has a development in Danga Bay, recently announced another large project.

The Tebrau Bay Waterfront City in eastern JB is expected to be built partly on land already reclaimed at the mouths of two rivers. The first phase promises a snow world theme park, an opera house and a hospital specialising in traditional Chinese medicine.

However, Johor MP Liew Chin Tong from the opposition Democratic Action Party said: "There is already massive oversupply of high-end housing in Iskandar.

"This massive reclamation is going to accelerate the burst of the bubble... it doesn't make economic sense."

Two Malaysian developers with projects in southern Johor declined to comment on whether the large projects are building up to a glut. One said things still remain murky as developers of some coastal projects have not confirmed how many units they plan to launch.

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Malaysia: Air polluters will feel the heat - Ministry

The Star 24 Feb 15;

PETALING JAYA: There will be tighter enforcement against air polluters during the current hot and dry spell, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel.

He said the authorities would go after those whose vehicles emitted excessive smoke, and who released dust from earthwork and smoke from industrial premises.

“With the current weather being hot and dry, I have directed the close monitoring of peat land, particularly in areas susceptible to fire. I also urge the public to refrain from carrying out any open burning,” he said in a statement.

Palanivel said landowners should also ensure their properties were not trespassed upon by irresponsible parties which could lead to open burning.

He called on public co-operation to put out small fires and report such incidents to the Fire and Rescue Department and the Department of Environment.

Malaysia is expected to experience hot and dry weather with low amount of rain until early April due to the equinox phenomenon, where the sun crosses directly over the Equator.

The Health Ministry advised the public to take extra precautionary measures against such weather which could affect water sources, resulting in increased cases of water-borne diseases, as well as their respiratory and cardiovascular health.

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Indonesia: Hot spots on the rise in Sumatra

Rizal Harahap The Jakarta Post 24 Feb 15;

Unlike some parts of Java where it is still raining, a large section of Sumatra is approaching the dry season.

If earlier hot spots were only widespread in Riau, they have now appeared in a number of other provinces.

“The number of hot spots has increased by more than 100 percent because only 12 were detected in four regencies a day earlier,” said the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Pekanbaru station data analysis staffer, Yudhistira Mawaddah, on Monday.

Based on satellite images gathered by BMKG Pekanbaru on Monday morning, 67 hot spots were detected in Sumatra. Riau still dominates with 26 hot spots, followed by North Sumatra with 20 hot spots.

Hot spots in Aceh and West Sumatra, provinces that were earlier free of hot spots, have appeared in eight and seven places respectively. Another province in which hot spots have been detected is South Sumatra with six hot spots.

“Yesterday, there were only 15 hot spots in Sumatra. The increase in the number of hot spots is due to the minimal rainfall,” said Yudhistira.

For Riau, hot spots have spread from seven to 12 regencies and cities. Based on the latest observation, Rokan Hilir regency is recorded to have the most number, with seven hot spots.

Hot spots have also appeared in Bengkalis (5), Dumai (5), Pelalawan (5), Siak (2), Indragiri Hulu (1) and Meranti Islands (1).

“Many of the 13 hotspots in Riau have been confirmed as fires, with a likelihood of over 70 percent. Fires have also been confirmed in Rokan Hilir, Dumai, Bengkalis, Pelalawan, Indragiri Hulu and Meranti Islands,” he added.

Despite the presence of additional hot spots, regions hit by land and forest fires have so far not yet been affected by haze. According to Yudhistira, visibility recorded by four observation posts was still between 5 and 7 kilometers, or still categorized as normal.

“Air quality earlier touched 124 PSI, categorized as unhealthy, on Sunday evening, but today it has improved and dropped to 53 PSI, or a medium level,” he added.

“Haze covering Pekanbaru originated from land and forest fires in Dumai, Bengkalis and Rokan Hilir, as the wind direction is currently blowing from the northeast to the south. Moreover, Pekanbaru is currently free of land and forest fires,” said Yudhistira.

He did not dismiss the notion that the haze covering parts of Jambi province most likely came from land and forest fires in Pelalawan and Indragiri Hulu.

“Wind blowing at a speed of up to 29 km/hour might have carried haze from forest fires in Riau to neighboring provinces,” he said.

The BMKG Pekanbaru station has warned every party to remain alert as the temperature, ranging from 31.5 to 33.5 degrees Celsius, would potentially trigger land and forest fires.

“The weather in Riau is generally cloudy, and light intensity rain will fall sporadically in the afternoon and evening. Regions where rain is likely to occur are in the western and southern parts of Riau, such as Kampar, Kuantan Sengingi and Rokan Hulu,” he said.

Separately, Riau Environmental Office head Yulwiriawati Moesa said the Riau provincial administration was currently making technical preparations to ask the central government to assist in weather modification technology to make artificial rain.

The Riau governor will also propose that the central government provide firefighting helicopters and aircraft at the haze emergency command post at the Roesmin Nurjadin Airbase in Pekanbaru.

- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/24/hot-spots-rise-sumatra.html#sthash.XONr70t0.dpuf

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Floods, storms and heat projected to cost SE Asia $34 billion per year

ALISA TANG Reuters 23 Feb 15;

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Falling crop yields, damage to infrastructure and heat-related illnesses brought on by climate change could cost the four Southeast Asian countries of the lower Mekong River basin $34 billion per year, researchers say.

Southeast Asia is one of the regions hardest hit by the impacts of climate change, such as floods, typhoons, droughts and saltwater intrusion - when seawater flows up rivers, threatening agriculture and infrastructure.

A report released on Monday found that climate change could cost Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam $16 billion per year in lost worker productivity, crop production and natural resource assets, plus $18 billion in infrastructure damage because of flooding, storms and extreme heat.

The report - by the Washington-based World Resources Institute think tank - drew findings from a 2013 USAID analysis that forecasts higher temperatures, more rainfall and sea level rise for the region by 2050.

Worker productivity is projected to suffer heavily, costing $8 billion per year in lost work days due to illnesses such as heat rash, fatigue and stroke, particularly among farmers and construction workers.

"There are tens of millions of open-air workers likely to experience greater levels of heat stress and heat-related illnesses when temperatures start rising above 40 degrees Celsius," report author John Talberth said in a statement.

"So much of the Lower Mekong Basin's economy is based on outdoor labour, worker productivity should be front and centre for any adaptation plans, and fast-tracked."

The report suggests preventive actions such as changes to working hours and redirecting spending on urban growth towards greener cities "to make life more hospitable as temperatures rise".

The cost of falling crop yields due to storms, rising sea levels, flooding and higher temperatures was projected at $2.5 billion, and $430 million for hydroelectric power production.

Most Mekong River tributaries have dams in place or planned, with 71 projects expected to be operational by 2030, the report said, identifying 11 hydropower facilities in locations of projected increases in temperature and potential drought.

An aim of the analysis is to help governments make plans and investments to avoid exposure to climate risks.

"If we address the problem early enough - and it is still early enough - we can make investments that are likely to pay off many times over," Talberth said.

(Reporting by Alisa Tang, Editing by Ros Russell.)

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Best of our wild blogs: 23 Feb 15

Wild Intern (Apr-Jun 2015) - Now open for applications!
from wild shores of singapore

St John's Island (21022015)
from Psychedelic Nature

A Long Trek Into the Nature Reserve
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Valentine’s Day is for Roving
from Diary of a Boy wandering through Our Little Urban Eden

13th anniversary as a Volunteer at Sungei Buloh Wetalnds
from Art in Wetlands

Pickhandle Barracuda (Sphyraena jello) @ Pasir Ris
from Monday Morgue

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AVA probing fish deaths off Pasir Ris

Authority warned coastal farmers of elevated plankton levels days before die-off
Today Online 23 Feb 15;

SINGAPORE — Amid higher plankton levels, some fish farmers off Pasir Ris have seen their fish die in recent days and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is analysing samples to determine the cause of death.

The AVA said some fish deaths were reported by farmers in the East Johor Straits between Wednesday and Saturday. This came after the authority alerted the coastal fish farmers to elevated plankton levels in the area last Monday and Tuesday for them to take precautions.

Plankton are microorganisms and plankton bloom occurs when one species of the drifting marine organisms predominates over others and multiplies quickly, said the AVA. This can be triggered by unpredictable weather, a higher concentration of nutrients in the seawater and poor water exchange between the high and low tides, a spokesperson said.

The AVA did not provide an indication of the scale of deaths so far, but said it has been visiting the coastal fish farms since the farmers’ reports. The visits are to “ascertain the situation, offer advice to the farmers to mitigate the situation and collect fish samples from the affected farms for analysis on the cause of mortality”.

It will continue to monitor and work closely with the farmers, an AVA spokesperson added.

Blogger and environmentalist Ria Tan reported seeing dead fish, both wild and farmed, at Pasir Ris on Saturday. In a post on her Wild Shores website yesterday, Ms Tan noted that some algal blooms are harmful and said it was important to find out the exact cause of fish deaths this time.

The latest deaths occurred a year after farmers lost more than 160 tonnes of fish and suffered individual losses of up to several hundred thousand dollars.

Last year’s episode was due to plankton bloom and low levels of dissolved oxygen, said the AVA, which offered an assistance package to affected farmers.

Related links
Also on Channel 8 News

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Migrating songbirds falling prey to rapid urbanisation

Feng Zeng Kun The Straits Times AsiaOne 23 Feb 15;

MANY songbirds that fly south to Asia between November and February are under threat, and researchers calling for more global cooperation to protect them.

The birds routinely escape the winter in northern parts of the world, such as Siberia, for Asia's tropical areas, and use migratory routes collectively known as the East Asian- Australasian Flyway.

The flyway spans 37 countries from Arctic Russia and North America to Australia and New Zealand - an area of about 84.7 million sq km.

A group of researchers led by Singaporean bird scientist Yong Ding Li found that their habitats in these countries, such as forests and wetlands, are increasingly being depleted due to human developments.

The birds also face threats such as tall buildings, including those in Singapore, that lead to fatal collisions, and hunters who trade in ornamental birds.

Mr Yong, who is a graduate student at the Australian National University (ANU), said that unlike migratory shorebirds and waterbirds, which have been extensively studied due to their ability to spread diseases, there has been little research on songbird numbers.

But anecdotal observations by birdwatchers as well as scientific surveys suggest that many bird populations have been declining in the wild, some by as much as 70 per cent.

The researchers from ANU and Sun Yat Sen University in China reviewed reports by birdwatchers and other scientists in countries along the flyway.

They identified at least 254 songbird species that use the flyway.

Of these, 15 are listed by conservation group BirdLife International as threatened, seven as near-threatened, and 56 as having declining populations.

The list of threats included deforestation and degradation of temperate forests in Mongolia and eastern Russia due to logging, mining and fires; the draining of Canaba marsh for agriculture in central Luzon in the Philippines; the trapping of songbirds in Cambodia for religious reasons, such as "mercy releases", as well as their trapping and sale as pets in Indonesia.

Hunting of wild birds for food in rural areas and the pet trade remains rampant across South-east Asia, the researchers said.

Songbirds migrating at night are also strongly attracted to artificial light.

Some of Asia's largest cities are extensively lit at night and have many high buildings, especially in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Bangkok and Singapore, and this may have led to many bird deaths.

The researchers said that more international cooperation, conservation of key habitats and monitoring and research are needed to protect the birds.

Mr Yong said that, for Singapore, "most people associate migratory birds with Sungei Buloh, but most of the birds - and the vast majority are songbirds - are found across the country".

He added: "Their conservation needs to extend beyond nature reserves, to little remnants of habitats outside the reserves, including small patches of woodland like Bidadari."

Songbirds under threat

BROWN-CHESTED JUNGLE-FLYCATCHER

Flies from China to Sumatra, Indonesia, stopping in Singapore along the way in September for two weeks to a month.

Can be seen in Bidadari every October.

Population decline observed by birdwatchers in China.

Threats include loss of its natural forest habitat due to logging and agriculture in countries along its flight path.

BLUE-WINGED PITTA

Some fly from different parts of South-east Asia, such as Vietnam and Thailand, to Sumatra. Others stay put.

Commonly killed in collisions with buildings, especially in Singapore.

YELLOW-BREASTED BUNTING

Believed to migrate from eastern Russia and Hokkaido, Japan, to southern China and parts of South-east Asia between August and October.

Population estimated to have fallen by at least 70 per cent in Russia between 2000 and 2010.

Threats include being trapped, cooked and sold as food in Sanshui city and Guangdong in China. The birds are also stuffed and sold as mascots in China as their presence in homes is believed to confer happiness. In Cambodia, they are often trapped for "merit release", a religious ritual.

Additional reporting by Carolyn Khew

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Indonesia: 11 Arrested Over Illegal Forest Clearing in Riau

Jakarta Globe 22 Feb 15;

Illegal forest clearing for plantations is a major problem for Indonesia. (AFP Photo/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

Jakarta. Eleven people have been arrested in Riau for illegal forest clearing, a major issue for Indonesia which is grappling with one of the fastest rates of deforestation in the world.

Police arrested seven suspects in Bukit Batu subdistrict, two in Bengkalis subdistrict and two more in Pinggir subdistrict, police said on Sunday.

“Police found six wood cutting tools, a jerry can filled with fuel and a motorcycle as evidence,” the chief of Bengkalis Police, Adj. Sr. Cmr. Aloysius Supriadi, told Tempo.co.

Aloysius said the eleven people detained are suspected of illegal land clearing and illegal logging.

The arrests come just days after a new study claimed that more than 30 percent of the timber used by Indonesia’s industrial forest sector is sourced from illegal and unsustainable sources.

The report, published this week by the Anti Forest-Mafia Coalition, an alliance of Indonesian civil society organizations, and Forest Trends, a Washington-based non-governmental organization, found a yawning gap between the legal supply of wood to mills — as reported by the Ministry of Forestry — and the output declared by the industrial forestry sector.

The study, Indonesia’s Legal Timber Supply Gap and Implications for Expansion of Milling Capacity, said raw material used by these mills exceeded the legal supply by the equivalent of 20 million cubic meters.

The report said although the source of the wood was unclear, it is likely to have come from trees chopped down during clearfelling for plantations of palm oil and acacia trees, which are harvested by the pulp and paper industry.

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil.

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Best of our wild blogs: 22 Feb 15

Fishes dying at Pasir Ris?
from wild shores of singapore

Glorious at St. John's Island
from wild shores of singapore

Shrimp day at Little Sisters' Island
from Peiyan.Photography

Pangolin Party
from BES Drongos

Birds at the Botanics
from My Nature Experiences

Animals attracted to the Banana inflorescence
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Favourite Nectaring Plants #6
from Butterflies of Singapore

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Malaysia: Expect a hot and dry weather with low amount of rain until early April

The Star 22 Feb 15;

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is expected to experience hot and dry weather with low amount of rain until early April, according to the Malaysian Meteo­rological Department.

MetMalaysia spokesman Dr Hisham Mohd Anip said the country was in the final stages of the Northeast Monsoon season before entering the hot season between March and April mainly due to the equinox phenomenon, when the sun crosses directly over the equator.

“In the final stages, we will usually experience low amount of rainfall and on top of that the temperature will keep increasing towards next month until early April.

“This is due to the transition of the sun from the southern to the northern hemisphere.

“By end of March, the position of the sun will be exactly on top of our country,” he said yesterday.

The equinox occurs due to the passage of the earth around the sun with the plane of the earth’s tilting at an angle of 23.5 degrees.

Asked if the hot weather will be worse than last year, Dr Hisham said that it was just a normal occurrence and the weather was expected to get cooler when the rainy season starts immediately after that period.

“We experienced extremely dry weather.

“We do not expect it to be so dry this year,” he said.

A check on MetMalaysia Facebook showed that Malaysia recorded the maximum temperature of 38.9°C last year on May 18 at Chuping, Perlis.

International forecast website Accuweather.com predicts that major cities in Malaysia will see high temperatures next week, including Alor Setar, Kedah, which is expected to climb to as high as 36°C.

For the latest weather updates, the public can access MetMalaysia website www.met.gov.my or its hotline 1-300-22-1638, as well as MetMalaysia official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/malaysiamet or its twitter account https://twitter.com/malaysiamet.

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Malaysia: NGOs question EPD approval of Sabah aquaculture project

RUBEN SARIO The Star 22 Feb 15;

KOTA KINABALU: The move by the Environment Protection Department (EPD) in Sabah to unilaterally approve a massive aquaculture project is worrying seven non-governmental organisations here.

The NGOs want greater transparency and public participation in the evaluation of Envi­ronmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports as all projects ultimately affect the people.

They were responding to the EPD director’s recent statement that he was not obliged to refer any matters back to the EIA Review Panel before a final decision is made in approving an EIA.

Datuk Yabi Yangkat had cited Section 12D(1) of the Environment Protection Enactment 2002, which stipulates that the EPD director was empowered to approve an EIA report even if no Review Panel meeting was held.

The NGOs – Sabah Environmental Protection Association (Sepa), Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP), Indigenous Peoples Network of Malaysia (Joas), Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora), Sabah Environmental Trust (SET), Save Open Spaces Kota Kinabalu (SOS KK) and Himpunan Hijau – believe EPD is moving backwards by interpreting the law so narrowly.

Sepa president Lanash Thanda said the role of the Review Panel could be considered obsolete, and the concept of public participation undermined.

“The recent statement means that NGO participation in the process is nothing more than a rubber stamping exercise.

“This is a breakdown of social and environmental safeguards as it allows for one authority to approve future EIAs without consultation,” Lanash said.

On Dec 19, EPD approved the EIA for a RM1.23bil shrimp aquaculture project in Pitas, despite an earlier rejection by the Review Panel that included SEPA and WWF-Malaysia.

The department also did not notify the panel members of its decision.

SET Chief Executive Officer Dr Rahimatsah Amat said the EPD’s Handbook on Environmental Impact Assessment in Sabah (2nd Edition) clearly mentions a public hearing and a review panel.

Rahimatsah, who claimed several activities had commenced in the last few years even while the Terms of Reference (TOR) were being discussed, added that this was a breach of section 7(1) of the Environmental Protection (Prescribed Activities) (EIA) Order 2005.

The seven are now seeking an appointment with the State Tourism, Culture and Environ­ment Ministry, under which EPD falls, to discuss procedures and issues related to the EIA process.

The group is also contemplating a public forum to create awareness on environmental issues and the EIA process.

“We are here to ensure that public interest is respected and protected.

“We do not have any other agenda,” Rahimatsah said.

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Best of our wild blogs: 21 Feb 15

CNY Day 2: Little Sister's Island
from wonderful creation and wild shores of singapore

Celebrating the year of the sheep at Cyrene Reef
from Peiyan.Photography

Tampines Eco Green Park Again
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Pellets from Tuas: 1. The pellets
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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