Category: Environment EN

Last week’s mass fish death in Sungai Terla and the eventual forced closure of the Kampung Terla water treatment plant in Cameron Highlands, Pahang are very disturbing news. Tests done by the Chemistry Department found that excessive pesticide use was the cause of the fish deaths. The water treatment plant has been closed until the water is certified safe for consumption. Pesticides are toxic...

CAP and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) are deeply troubled by the intentions of the Department of Fisheries (DOF) Malaysia and WWF-Malaysia to come up with a blueprint for sustainable coastal trawl fisheries in Malaysia. The DOF in collaboration with WWF-Malaysia is organising a two day workshop on adaptation of a blueprint for sustainable coastal trawl fisheries in Malaysia on 6 and 7 March. We...

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and the Malaysian Coastal Fishermen's Welfare and Education Network (JARING) urge the authorities to take stringent action on the illegal use of rawa sorong nets which violates the Fisheries Act 1984. SAM and JARING also object any attempt to license this destructive fishing gear. The use of rawa sorong nets, also known as sodok nets among local fishers is not...

In recent days we have heard the authorities giving contradictory signals regarding the disposal of radioactive wastes from Lynas. According to the Health Minister, Lynas would be told to move the radioactive wastes outside of Kuantan or ship them back to Australia. This was the agreement reached by him and the Ministers of International Trade and Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, and...

Contrary to what Dr Lee Han Lim of IMR has written (‘GM mosquitoes: Procedure strictly complied with’ in The Sun, Feb. 6 , the GM Aedes mosquitoes release was riddled with non-compliance of international biosafety standards, non-transparency, lack of public accountability and lack of proper due process prior to the GM mosquito release. Moreover, recently revealed data shows that survival rate...

The manner in which AELB and Lynas Corporation are conducting public disclosure makes a mockery of international best practices, safety standards and the various International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommendations which the government and Lynas had pledged they will honour. Public Information and disclosure Among the other IAEA recommendations relevant to public disclosure are: Lynas should...

It is obvious that the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) is not sincere in obtaining public feedback for the application for a temporary operating licence from the rare earth processing company Lynas (M) Sdn Bhd. AELB is making it difficult for the public to access the document that is on display. The document which includes the Radioactive Waste Management Plan is on display in limited...

CAP calls upon the government to ban paraquat, the toxic weed killer.  We are concerned to learn that paraquat is being smuggled into the country and it is more toxic as the concentration level of the smuggled weed killer is higher; more than 40 percent. Paraquat is very toxic by inhalation, toxic in contact with skin and if swallowed. The high toxicity and lack of antidote leads to serious ill...