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Climate change and water: Protect forests and reduce water loss

  • Publication Date | January 20, 2020
  • Document Type | Media Statement
  • Programmes | Climate Change
  • Issues | Biodiversity, Conservation, Water
  • Tags | National Water Services Commission, Permanent Reserve Forest
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SAM is greatly alarmed by the news on the sharp drop of the water level of dams in Penang and Kedah over the last two months. The water level capacity of the Air Itam and Teluk Bahang dams on the Penang Island was reported to stand at 62 and 39 per cent currently. Meanwhile in Kedah, the capacity of its Ahning, Pedu, Muda, Beris and Malut dams was recorded at 62 per cent, 48 per cent, 18 per cent, 81 per cent and 86 per cent, respectively.  

According to the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP), between September and December 2019, the total rainfall recorded in the Air Itam dam area was only 702 mm. This was equivalent to only 44 per cent of the three year average of 1,577 mm, recorded during the same period between 2016 and 2018. For the Teluk Bahang dam, the total rainfall recorded in the dam area between September and December 2019 was 1,732 mm, equivalent to only 56 per cent of the same three-year average of 3,101mm.

We definitely agree with the assessment of the chief executive officer of PBAPP that the low rainfall in Penang in the last four months of 2019 is linked to climate change. Today, we have to accept that climate change is the new normal.

In light of this human-made global disaster, a more integrated approach to water resource management can no longer be treated lightly by the federal and state governments. While we laud the call for consumers not to waste water, to address the reality of this new normal, appropriate policy and governance play a central role.

The simplest and most cost-effective step that must be urgently undertaken today is certainly natural conservation at the source. We agree with the chair of the National Water Services Commission’s (SPAN), YB Charles Santiago, that water catchment areas are fully gazetted so that the ecology of the areas are not compromised.

In Peninsular Malaysia, subsection 10(1) of the National Forestry Act 1984 provides states with the power to gazette Water Catchment Forests within the Permanent Reserved Forest (PRF). However, based on the latest statistics which we could find thus far, it is shown that in 2015, only 734,731 hectares of the PRF have been gazetted as Water Catchment Forests. The total size of the PRF back then and up until 2018, still stands at 4.8 million hectares. 

Currently, 3 million hectares of the PRF have been reserved for production activities such as logging and monoculture plantations.

Second, there is also the urgent need for Malaysia to put a stop to its high annual rates of non-revenue water (NRW). NRW is the amount of treated water that flows into a supply system but fails to bring in revenue. This is water that has been lost to piping leakages, system pressure, metering and billing inefficiencies and theft.

For over more than two decades, it has been the norm for our annual national NRW rates to not be reduced to less than 30 per cent, despite millions that had been spent. According to SPAN, the rate of our NRW in 2017 still stood at 35 per cent, which to us is highly improper. While Penang fared better at keeping its NRW figure lower than the national average at 22 per cent, Kedah lost almost half of its water during this year. In fact, the five worst NRW rates in the country in 2017 were held by Kedah (48 per cent), Kelantan (49 per cent), Pahang (48 per cent), Perlis (63 per cent) and Sabah (54 per cent). This current state of affairs is simply unacceptable and in fact, downright dangerous, considering our future circumstances.

Therefore, at this juncture when the impacts of climate change have begun to make their presence felt, SAM calls for the intensification and increased integration of efforts on the sustainable management of our water resources by both the federal and state authorities. Expanding on conservation at the source through the urgent gazetting our water catchment forests to legally protect them, and reducing our NRW rates, are the simplest first steps that can be undertaken by our authorities today. Likewise, efforts by agencies such as SPAN must also be amply supported to further enhance the protection of our water resources and ensure good water quality.

We have had enough warnings about the precarious and vulnerable situation of our water resources. We must therefore act before the time becomes too late, and the situation too dangerous.

Meenakshi Raman

President

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Testimonials

Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
Hue Fui How
Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
Chedo Anak Nyuwen
Chedo Anak NyuwenPersatuan Penduduk Sg Buri, Bakong, Marudi
My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
Chee Yoke Ling
Chee Yoke Lingstudent of SAM, Executive Director of Third World Network, SAM’s sister organisation

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Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Headquarters)
No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Marudi Office)
129A, First Floor,
Jalan Tuanku Taha,
P.O.Box 216,
98058 Marudi, Baram, Sarawak,
Malaysia
Tel & Fax: +6085 758 973

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