Seven is enough
Residents in Jalan PJS 7/15 filling up their water containers following the water crisis in Klang Valley. -NSTP/OSMAN ADNAN
The year is into its 11th month, but already our taps have run dry seven times. And pollution is behind every one of them. This isn't a good 7-11 story.
This time, the taps ran dry for 1.1 million households. If we take the national average of four to a household, that's 4.4 million people who went without water. This is a crime from whichever way we look at it. This national tragedy gets repeated so often that for Malaysians, happiness is when the taps don't run dry.
It's time for the government to do some deep thinking about water resource management. And by that we mean, a holistic approach. An old suggestion by the Bar Council to treat water pollution as a national security threat must form a core of the approach.
The holistic approach also means a rethink is needed in the way we manage our water resources. But first, pollution as a national security threat. The Bar Council, like the rest of Malaysia, has watched in agony the dumping of chemicals and what-have-you into rivers, and the culprits get away with it for the longest time.
Like it or not, the government has been lax. As pointed out by the council's press statement on June 16, it is not that the government hasn't the legislative means at its disposal. To begin with, there is the Water Services Industry Act 2006 that gives the federal government the power to act on all matters relating to water supply systems and services, including sewerage systems and services.
This act, read together with the Federal Constitution, does provide ammunition for the government to treat pollution of our water resources as a national security threat. There are other laws, too, such as the Environmental Quality Act 1974, that can be called in aid.
But these lack the bite that a national security threat deserves. Evidence? The clockwork frequency with which the dumping happens. Regular dumping of pollutants is also a sign of a failure in enforcement.
Taking a holistic approach means beginning with the end in mind. And the end for water quality and water quality modelling expert Zaki Zainudin is a map of water quality targets of all our rivers from upstream to downstream, state by state.
Targets, measured from good of Class 1 to bad of Class 5, can then be assigned. Upstream — where industries and commercial enterprises are absent — targets are usually assigned Class 1 or 2 in this Zaki map. Downstream, where industries become common, the targets begin to move away from Class 1 and 2. But they must never be more than Class 3.
Anything more means dying or dead rivers. Which is another way of saying no-no to high risk factories where the river flows. Where Zaki's map gets clever is that it can be turned into scorecards with key performance goals for various government agencies responsible for the length and breadth of the river. Water catchment or water resource management through maps is an idea whose time has come. But before a meaningful water quality target map can be charted, there needs to be a state water authority. Surprisingly, not all states in Malaysia have them.
Selangor has its water authority in Lembaga Urusan Air Selangor. Others are in the works. As they say, what gets measured gets done.
For the moment, it's a case of cartographers in search of state water authorities.
This time, the taps ran dry for 1.1 million households. If we take the national average of four to a household, that's 4.4 million people who went without water. This is a crime from whichever way we look at it. This national tragedy gets repeated so often that for Malaysians, happiness is when the taps don't run dry.
It's time for the government to do some deep thinking about water resource management. And by that we mean, a holistic approach. An old suggestion by the Bar Council to treat water pollution as a national security threat must form a core of the approach.
The holistic approach also means a rethink is needed in the way we manage our water resources. But first, pollution as a national security threat. The Bar Council, like the rest of Malaysia, has watched in agony the dumping of chemicals and what-have-you into rivers, and the culprits get away with it for the longest time.
Like it or not, the government has been lax. As pointed out by the council's press statement on June 16, it is not that the government hasn't the legislative means at its disposal. To begin with, there is the Water Services Industry Act 2006 that gives the federal government the power to act on all matters relating to water supply systems and services, including sewerage systems and services.
This act, read together with the Federal Constitution, does provide ammunition for the government to treat pollution of our water resources as a national security threat. There are other laws, too, such as the Environmental Quality Act 1974, that can be called in aid.
But these lack the bite that a national security threat deserves. Evidence? The clockwork frequency with which the dumping happens. Regular dumping of pollutants is also a sign of a failure in enforcement.
Taking a holistic approach means beginning with the end in mind. And the end for water quality and water quality modelling expert Zaki Zainudin is a map of water quality targets of all our rivers from upstream to downstream, state by state.
Targets, measured from good of Class 1 to bad of Class 5, can then be assigned. Upstream — where industries and commercial enterprises are absent — targets are usually assigned Class 1 or 2 in this Zaki map. Downstream, where industries become common, the targets begin to move away from Class 1 and 2. But they must never be more than Class 3.
Anything more means dying or dead rivers. Which is another way of saying no-no to high risk factories where the river flows. Where Zaki's map gets clever is that it can be turned into scorecards with key performance goals for various government agencies responsible for the length and breadth of the river. Water catchment or water resource management through maps is an idea whose time has come. But before a meaningful water quality target map can be charted, there needs to be a state water authority. Surprisingly, not all states in Malaysia have them.
Selangor has its water authority in Lembaga Urusan Air Selangor. Others are in the works. As they say, what gets measured gets done.
For the moment, it's a case of cartographers in search of state water authorities.
***
kt notes:
One question begging to be shouted out LOUD is: Why have the occurrences of water supply problems been most repetitive only this year?
what u expect from a backdoor gang mb? his main job is to open backdoor, i believe he learn well from conman.
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