Malaysia moves against coastal erosion crisis

Sohail Rahman in Al-Jazeera.com: ...Malaysia and Denmark ... have been working on environmental projects for over a decade. Both recognise the importance of their coastline and Denmark has years of experience in dealing with water levels and rising seas.

...So fast forward to Penang, coastal erosion and fresh water fishermen. They have a huge problem of coastal degradation. Is global warming the reason for the way typhoons have hit Asia Pacific these past few years, or the terrible floods that hit Malaysia in December 2014?

It could be a factor if the bigger global environmental jigsaw puzzle is worked out Here, though, the government, local and national is working with local nongovernmental organisations, acknowledging there is a need to support the livelihoods of over 200 fisherman on the island that locals call Pulau Pinang.

Together they identify vulnerable areas, work out which of the 150 species of hmangrove will be best suited to binding the land, grow quickly and feed the natural wildlife that depends on the plants. Keeping salt water away and encouraging freshwater wildlife that can sustain communities, such as fish, prawns and lobster to return.

...It is working yet we hear very little about it. Some NGOs such as The Consumer Association of Penang say the government need to do more and quickly. It is an easy statement to make but no government official likes to be told what to do. Yet Malaysia will be doing that soon enough. Telling its neighbours or the international community at the UN what they think and what needs to be done....

Malaysia flood response denounced anew as nearly quarter million flee

Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah in Reuters: Malaysia's worst flooding in a decade has forced nearly a quarter of a million people from their homes, officials said on Tuesday, with the government coming under renewed fire for its perceived slow response.

The National Security Council said that "exceptionally high" water levels had cut off rescuers from relief centers as the death toll rose to 21 across the northeast. Fifteen people have been killed in neighboring southern Thailand.

Most criticism was directed at Prime Minister Najib Razak for his absence as the disaster unfolded after being photographed playing golf with President Barack Obama in Hawaii. "No matter how prepared we are, there will always be a bigger and more devastating disaster that tests the capability and resources of the country," the council said in a statement to the online news portal, the Malaysian Insider.

Opposition member Tony Pua denounced the government's reluctance to declare a state of emergency and its "complete lack of urgency" in calling a council meeting....

Number of Malaysians displaced by worst-ever floods reaches 160,000

Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah in Reuters: The number of people evacuated due to Malaysia's worst-ever floods jumped to more than 160,000 on Saturday, as Prime Minister Najib Razak reached the worst-hit state after cutting short a vacation in the U.S.

Najib arrived in Kelantan, which has the biggest problems among eight affected states, following his return from Hawaii on Friday after public criticism he had been absent as flooding worsened.

On Saturday, Najib announced an additional 500 million ringgit ($143.31 million) will be spent to aid victims after the flood subsides, following an initial government allocation of 50 million ringgit two days ago. The number of people evacuated topped 160,000 at 0700GMT Saturday, according to the New Straits Times newspaper, a sharp increase from 100,000 a day before.

The prime minister attended briefings with the National Security Council, the National Disaster Management and Relief Committee, state government and local emergency responders, a statement on Friday said.

Taken during the 2007 Johor flood in Kota Tinggi, Malaysia, shot by Mr Tan, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons 2.0 license

Malaysia air quality 'unhealthy' as haze obscures skies

Terra Daily via AFP: Air quality around Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur and on Borneo island was "unhealthy" on Tuesday, with one town reaching "very unhealthy" levels as haze -- mostly from forest fires in Indonesia -- obscured skies. Kuala Lumpur residents wore face masks as protection from the choking smog, while visibility was low.

Nine out of some 50 measuring stations recorded air pollutant index readings above 100, which signify "unhealthy" air quality. Readings in Sibu town in Sarawak state on Borneo breached 200 -- designated as "very unhealthy" -- on Monday, but recovered slightly Tuesday.

A reading of above 300 signifies "hazardous" air. In Indonesia, the National Disaster Management Agency deployed a chopper to conduct water bombing to West Kalimantan on Borneo to tame 268 so-called hotspots detected in the province as haze also shrouded skies there and on Sumatra island....

Haze in Kuala Lumpur, shot by Krisjohn, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr,  under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Malaysia, Singapore grapple with prolonged dry spell

Reuters: Singapore and Malaysia are grappling with some of the driest weather they have ever seen, forcing the tiny city-state to ramp up supplies of recycled water while its neighbor rations reserves amid disruptions to farming and fisheries.

Singapore, which experiences tropical downpours on most days, suffered its longest dry spell on record between January 13 and February 8 and has had little rain since.

Shares in Hyflux Ltd, which operates desalination and water recycling operations in Singapore, have risen 3.5 pct over the past month.

In peninsular Malaysia, 15 areas have not had rainfall in more than 20 days, with some of them dry for more than a month, according to the Malaysian Meteorological Department. The dry weather is expected to run for another two weeks.

The Indonesian province of Riau has also been hit, with parts of the region wreathed in smog, usually caused by farmers setting fires to illegally clear land. Poor visibility has disrupted flights to and from the airport in Pekanbaru...

France promises Malaysia no palm oil 'discrimination'

Seed Daily via AFP: French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Monday assured Malaysia that European rules on declaring product ingredients would not "discriminate" against palm oil, the target of environmentalists over its ecological impact.

Malaysia is second only to Indonesia in the production of palm oil, which is blamed for the destruction of huge swathes of rainforest to make way for vast plantations of the palm trees from which the edible oil is derived.

The French Senate last year approved a quadrupling of the tax on palm oil despite protests from major producing nations Malaysia and the Ivory Coast, but the move was later rejected by France's lower house.

"I know how important it is to Malaysia given the number of people who rely on palm oil production for a living, in particular small producers," Ayrault told a press conference with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak after they held talks...

Oil palms in Malaysia, shot by Craig, public domain

80 percent of Malaysian Borneo degraded by logging

Terra Daily via SPX: A study published in the July 17, issue of the journal PLOS ONE found that more than 80% of tropical forests in Malaysian Borneo have been heavily impacted by logging.

The Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak were already thought to be global hotspots of forest loss and degradation due to timber and oil palm industries, but the rates and patterns of change have remained poorly measured by conventional field or satellite approaches. A research team from the University of Tasmania, University of Papua New Guinea, and the Carnegie Institution for Science documented the full extent of logging in this region.

The team used the Carnegie Landsat Analysis System-lite (CLASlite) to reveal the vast and previously unmapped extent of heavily logged forest. CLASlite's high-resolution satellite imaging uncovered logging roads in Brunei and in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

CLASlite, developed by Carnegie's Greg Asner and team, has the unique ability to convert satellite images of seemingly dense tropical forest cover into highly detailed maps of deforestation and forest degradation. The user-friendly monitoring system has been made available to hundreds of governments, nongovernmental organizations, and academic institutions for use in mapping tropical forests.

Analysis of satellite imagery collected from 1990 and 2009 over Malaysian Borneo showed approximately 226,000 miles (364,000 km) of roads constructed throughout the forests of this region.

Nearly 80% of the land surface of Sabah and Sarawak was impacted by previously undocumented, high-impact logging or clearing operations. This finding contrasted strongly with neighboring Brunei, where 54% of the land area maintained intact unlogged forest....

Logging in Batottan in British North Borneo in 1926. Shot by Lieutenant (j.g.) Leonard Johnson

Singapore pollution soars as haze from Indonesia hits air quality

Guardian (UK) via AP: Singaporeans reduced military training exercises, kept cough-stricken children indoors and wore protective masks to work after a smoky haze triggered by forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia caused air pollution to hit its worst level in nearly 16 years.

Singapore's main measurement of air quality has hovered at the unhealthy classification as smoke from blazes on Sumatra island drifted across the sea and cast a grey pall over the city-state's skyscrapers.

The readings on the pollutant standards index were mostly between 104 and 123 on Tuesday, within the unhealthy range of between 101 and 200. A peak reading of 155 on Monday night was the highest since late 1997, when officials reported a 226 reading.

Smoke haze is an annual problem for Singapore and its northern neighbour, Malaysia, often beginning midyear, when farmers in Indonesia seek to clear land cheaply by starting fires. It sometimes causes diplomatic strains as Malaysia and Singapore urge Indonesia to do more to prevent illegal burning.

Malaysia has been only lightly affected so far this year, with pollution readings in Kuala Lumpur, its largest city, not breaching the unhealthy mark. Indonesia has said part of the current problem is caused by peat blazes that firefighters are struggling to extinguish during hot, dry weather...

Haze in Singapore, October 2006, shot by Sengkang, public domain

Unesco: Malaysia on right track to attain developed-nation status

My Sinchew via Bernama: Malaysia's commitment and clear policy to drive science, technology and innovation has put the country on the right track to achieve developed-nation status, said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) today.

Its director-general Dr Irina Bokova said Malaysia's commitment to developing science, technology and innovation as an enabler towards attaining developed- nation status was being recognised by Unesco. Citing the Vision 2020 and the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025, Bokova said that science, technology and innovation had been prominently outlined as a key enabler to achieve the goals.

"Malaysia is one of the countries in the Asian region that is highly investing in science, technology and scientific research. Over the years, there has been a growing number of science and technology research centres and universities in the country. This is not by chance but demostrates the serious efforts of the country to develop the sector.

"And this puts it in a very good position for further achievements," she told reporters after opening the International, Science, Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation (ISTIC)'s 5th anniversary conference, here....

In Malaysia's election, a focus on rainforest graft

Niluksi Koswanage in AlertNet via Reuters: The island of Borneo may be all that stands between Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and an unprecedented election defeat within weeks for his ruling coalition. Borneo's two Malaysian states -- Sabah and Sarawak -- have been a bastion of votes for the National Front coalition headed by Najib's party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

The two states, among Malaysia's poorest despite vast natural resources, kept the National Front in power in 2008 even as a groundswell of support for the opposition deprived the government of its iron-clad two-thirds parliamentary majority.

That could start to change. Allegations of corruption in recent months have dogged the chief ministers of both Sabah and Sarawak, long-time rulers who hold vast sway over some of the world's largest tracts of tropical forests.

The National Front is favoured to win the election expected on April 27 after Najib dissolved parliament on Wednesday. But it could be the closest his ruling coalition has faced in its 56-year rule. Corruption scandals threaten to undermine one of Najib's central messages -- that he is making Southeast Asia's third-largest economy more transparent and competitive.

Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, who is also the state's top UMNO official, has been under scrutiny the past year after whistleblower website Sarawak Report published documents from the Hong Kong and Malaysian anti-corruption agencies.

The two agencies started investigating Musa in late 2008. The probe was based on a tip-off that the chief minister was extracting money from businessmen seeking timber concessions and funnelling it to UBS bank accounts in Hong Kong and Singapore, sources close to the investigations said. They declined to say who gave the tip-off....

Thousands flee Malaysia floods, dam wall broken

Terra Daily via AFP: Floods triggered by torrential monsoon rains in Malaysia forced almost 14,000 people to flee their homes and seek shelter at relief centres, the official Bernama news agency said Wednesday.

Heavy rain coinciding with high tide flooded hundreds of homes in three northeastern states -- Terengganu, Pahang and Kelantan -- with some 13,746 people moved to evacuation centres, it said amid forecasts of more downpours.

Bernama said the flood situation was deteriorating as the number of evacuees continued to rise and some major roads in Pahang were closed as rivers burst their banks.

Muhammad Helmi Abdullah, the meteorological department's weather forecast director, warned that there could be more rain in Terengganu, Pahang and southern Johor state in the next few days.

"We expect intermittent rain to heavy showers in (some parts of) the states," he told AFP, adding that the northeast monsoon season would last until March and the affected states could experience at least three more "heavy rain" episodes....

A scene from a 2007 flood in Malaysia, shot by Ab Rahman, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Study urges integrated approach to protecting the Coral Triangle

Dyna Rochmyaningsih in SciDev.net: Objectives on biodiversity, fisheries and climate change outcomes should be integrated when designating Marine Protected Areas (MPA) for the so-called Coral Triangle, according to a report by a consortium studying methods to protect the region.

The Coral Triangle refers to the tropical waters around Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. It is recognised as a global centre of marine biodiversity, and is a conservation priority area for the region.

The region faces significant threats due to pollution and overuse of ocean resources by local residents. Around a third of the 370 million people in the Coral Triangle depend on fish and other marine products for food and income, according to the report published last month by the United States Agency for International Development-backed Coral Triangle Support Partnership.

It says differing and sometimes conflicting objectives have tended to guide the design of MPAs. Those designed by non-governmental organisations tend to emphasise biodiversity and climate change objectives, while MPAs designed by government bodies and local communities are often focused on objectives related to fisheries....

 Potts Dam, Papua New Guinea, photo by a sailor on that US Navy ship lurking in the background

Malaysia braces for floodwaters

Aneesa Alphonsus and Tarani Palani in Free Malaysia Today: Since July 2011, heavy monsoon rains in Southeast Asia resulted in catastrophic flooding. In Thailand, about one third of all provinces were affected. The United Nations said ongoing floods in Southeast Asia were triggering a humanitarian crisis.

Floods and disasters in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines had killed more than 700 people and affected eight million others.

...While Malaysia seems generally spared from any massive catastrophe, the thought that comes to mind in the wake of these disasters is this: How prepared are we should such a disaster strike.
In disaster management, relocation/resettlement is more often seen as the worst option as it gives the impression that nothing else can be done about the hazard and people have to be moved. Relocation is unpopular, as plans to relocate entire communities are costly, mainly because of the need to acquire alternative locations and the provision of housing for those resettled.

More significantly, at least on the part of those being relocated, it provokes social disruption and upheaval when people are bundled into an alien environment. Notwithstanding the influence of structural/societal forces, people are also reluctant to be relocated far from relatives, friends and their place of work (or schools in the case of children).

... Having said that, the concern that a Thailand-like situation might happen still plays on the mind. To the question if this might occur in Malaysia, former deputy director-general II of the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), K J Abraham opined that it is very difficult to say as the respective bodies responsible would have to identify the water holding capacity of specific areas.

He added that generally there are two factor of floods in KL: river overflowing and under-sized urban drainage which are chocked with rubbish. Abraham also believes that the maintenance of these drains are bad not solely because the Majlis (Perbandaran or Bandaraya) but that it lies within the attitude of the people themselves....

A 2007 flood in Kota Tinga, Malaysia, shot by Mr Tan, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Malaysia's urbanites at nature's mercy

Lee Yen Mun: About 8.6 million Malaysians living in urban areas will be exposed to climate hazards within the next nine years, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) study showed. The study projected that the number of people to be affected by the unpredictable global weather change is also expected to increase with time, up to an astounding 11.9 million by 2050. If the projection is accurate, Malaysia may see an 182.6% spike over 50 years (2000- 2050) in the number of its population placed at nature’s mercy.

Apart from coastal flooding, the report did not identify other environmental hazards that are expected to hit the country’s urban spots. “It is important to note that the impact of climate change on these population will be influenced not just by its nature and severity, but also by the ability of those population to bring resources to adapt to that change,” the ADB said in the report entitled Climate Change and Migration in Asia and the Pacific.

The study to be released next month is aimed at enhancing regional preparedness for migration driven by changing weather patterns. If the bad weather persists, Malaysia may also see an influx of migrants from its Asian counterparts dubbed by the report as “climate change hotspots”, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and southern Pakistan. These five countries are currently the primary providers of most low-skilled workers to Malaysia….

Miri City in Malayisa, shot by Mirilan, who has released it into the public domain

Malacca acts to stop floods

The Star Online (Malaysia): The recent unusual wet spell and repeated flash floods in the city over the past two weeks has prompted authorities here to implement immediate flood mitigation measures. State local government and environment committee chairman Datuk Latiff Tamby Chick said 10 temporary pumps would be installed along the Malacca River to help divert excess water during heavy rain.

“This is only a temporary measure as the pump system from Sweden will only be fully operational in September,” he said yesterday. He also said that contractors responsible for maintaining monsoon drains would be required to carry out maintenance work once a month instead of once every three months.

Besides the unusual heavy showers, he said, high tides were also causing greater back flow along the Malacca River. He cited the recent heavier that usual rainfall over Singapore as an example where climate change might be causing more frequent flash flood.

“Even in Singapore, unusual heavy rain had resulted in floods at Orchard Road,” he said. Last week, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said some RM56.4mil had been spent for the first phase of the RM128mil flood mitigation programme launched by the state two years ago.

An additional RM72mil from the Federal Government would be used for the second phase of the project to further upgrade the drainage systems and secondary waterways along the Malacca River…

The Malacca River, a bit upstream from the historic Dutch Square. Looking north (upstream), shot by Vmenkov, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License

Serious erosion affecting 1,300km of Malay coastal areas

The Star Online (Malaysia): A total of 1,300km or 29% of the country’s 4,800km of coastal areas are facing serious problems of erosion. Malaysia urgently needs projections on the rise of sea levels to enable the planning of coastal development and to adapt to climate change, said Natural Resources and Environment Ministry Deputy Secretary-General (I) Datuk Aziyah Mohamed.

Speaking at the opening of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) workshop here, she said the projections were also needed to assess future impacts of sea-level rise on coastal areas, as well as the sustainability of coastal settlements in the future.

The IPCC reported that there has been an increasing trend of significant wave heights in the South China Sea and eastern parts of the Andaman Sea, which had directly impacted Malaysian coasts for the last 50 years. The wave height increase may be the result of increasing storm activities in this region….

Why are Malaysia's taps running dry?

Sakina Mohamed in Bernama (Malaysia) has a thoughtful discussion of the country’s water supply: …Malaysians, on an average, pay only 70 sen for 1,000 litres of water, or one cubic metre. So the scenario may seem unthinkable for many of us, who think clean and treated water will be around in abundance forever. But the truth is, Malaysia is fast running out of sources for clean water.

…Why is clean water so hard to come by? "In Malaysia, the main reasons are pollution and poor governance of our water catchments areas," says Water and Energy Consumer Association Malaysia Secretary General, S. Piarapakaran.

And one of the first indicators this is happening is a higher water tariff. He said water catchments and areas surrounding them should be gazetted. But what has been happening is that state governments are giving the green light for plantation and timbering companies to use the land for profit. …This usually results in pollution of water catchments, high treatment costs and if the pollution is too bad, a permanent shutdown.

…Malaysia still has plentiful of water supply because of our forests. "Our forests are our water catchment areas. But if the authorities keep bowing to timber companies who wish to do "selective logging" activities, we may have a really big problem in our hands," said Piarapakaran. He said in Perak, many rainforests of the Titiwangsa Range are being destroyed.

…A cross-section of Peninsular Malaysia reveals how the range is supporting the lives of Malaysians. When it rains, water will flow down from the east and west coast, with the forests controlling the water it catches by and releasing it slowly to the entire peninsula, ensuring it with a constant supply of water.

… Many would be quick to blame the current water crisis to drought, floods and other effects of climate change. "But it's not just the climate change that is causing water shortage. We are abusing the system as well," said Piarapakaran. And the system is straight forward - if we disturb our forests, it impacts our water supply….

Cloud forest. Mount Kinabalu, on the Malaysian portion of Borneo. Shot by NepGrower, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic licenseWikimedia Commons,

Ban on open burning in Southeast Asia

Zakaria Abdul Wahab in Bernama (Malaysia): A ministerial meeting on haze pollution in Southeast Asia on Wednesday agreed to ban all open burning in the region, in anticipation of the El Nino hot weather condition exacerbating in the last quarter of the year. The Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution which met here, also agreed to suspend permits for prescribed burning activities in fire-prone areas such as in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim told a media conference after the half-day meeting that MSC was concerned after the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre reported, the prevailing weak El Nino condition was forecast to intensify to a moderate to strong by the end of this year.

Saying the El Nino was likely to worsen and prolong the current dry spell in the region till October, he said the MSC expected there would be continued increase in hotspot activities in the fire-prone areas in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sarawak over the next few months. The MSC noted that this was likely to lead to more incidences of transboundary smoke haze pollution in the region, the minister said.

…In a separate statement, the MSC said the region experienced a sharp increase in the number of hotspots up to last Saturday, as compared to the same period in 2006 when the region last experienced severe smoke haze pollution. The ministers noted that while there had been sporadic incidences of air quality reaching unhealthy levels, the situation was still under control due to mitigation actions taken by MSC countries….

Sumatra ablaze in 2006. Actively burning fires marked in red, by NASA

Malaysia offers to help Indonesia as haze season looms

Terra Daily via Agence France-Presse: Malaysia has offered to help Indonesia curb forest fires blamed for the choking haze that shrouds the region each year, media reports said Sunday, as air quality fell in the country. In the dry season, Indonesian farmers burn forests to clear land for agriculture, causing a smoky haze that spreads across the region, affecting tourism and increasing health problems.

"We have special aeroplanes which can be used to carry out water bombing," the Sunday Star quoted Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak as saying. "It is up to the Indonesian government to accept it," the premier told the newspaper, as he urged Malaysians to avoid open burning.

…The Indonesian government has outlawed land-clearing by fire but weak enforcement means the ban is largely ignored….

Satellite view of October 2006 fires in Sumatra. NASA

Worst dengue outbreak in Malaysia

Straits Times: Malaysia is going through its worst dengue outbreak ever, health officials said yesterday, with higher rainfall and public apathy being blamed for encouraging the widespread breeding of the Aedes mosquito. In the first 28 days of this year alone, 14 people have died and 5,062 cases have been recorded. This compares with five deaths and 2,855 cases in the same period last year.

…'This is the worst outbreak ever,' Health Ministry director-general Ismail Merican told reporters yesterday. If the trend of 14 deaths a month were to continue for the rest of the year, the number of deaths this year would be higher than the 112 recorded last year.

…Dengue fever is endemic in South-east Asia, and cases in Malaysia have surged since 2003. Despite annual outbreaks and government campaigns to raise awareness, Tan Sri Ismail lamented that many residents were still unaware of the risks involved in allowing mosquitoes to breed on their premises….

Illustration of the dengue fever virus