Category: Environment EN

Enforce Fisheries Act Stringently CAP and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) urge the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry to not bow to pressure by trawl operators and trawl fishers in the country who protest the enforcement of a ban on trawl nets with mesh sizes of 38mm and below, that was enforced from 1 November 2013. The Ministry through the Fisheries Department and the Malaysian...

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) in collaboration with Friends of the Earth Japan, Australia and South Korea released a 151-page report, ‘Sustainable’ Tropical Timber Production, Trade and Procurement', which questions the sustainability of the international tropical timber trade, the quality of forestry governance in Malaysia and existing policies and regulatory measures in Japan, South Korea and...

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is very concerned that exploitation of sand resources will soon render the country with increasing environmental problems and socio-economic consequences. The demand for sand and gravel continue to increase and this has brought about over-extraction and illegal sand-mining activities in Malaysia. In 2011, a total of 1,036 permits were given out for extraction of sand...

The Auditor General’s 2012 report reveals weaknesses and unsatisfactory performance of incinerators constructed by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) had submitted our objections when the government proposed the incinerator plants using the autogenous combustion technology (ACT) developed by XCN Technology Sdn Bhd. In 2009, CAP had...

Today environmental and civil society groups on five continents warned that plans to release non-native strains of genetically modified (GM) flies in olive fields in Spain and fruit orchards in Brazil pose major risks to crops and the environment, as pesticide resistance or other harmful traits could spread into wild pest populations. The UK-based company Oxitec plans to release GM olive flies in...

CAP disagrees with the decision and announcement made by the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob,  that the government will enforce a ban on trawl net mesh size of 38mm and below to save marine species and fish fries from becoming extinct. It is reported that the enforcement will begin in November and involves 6,116 trawl vessels of Class B, C and C2...

The scarred hill of Bukit Relau serves as a reminder to Penangites on how a developer can escape by paying a puny fine of RM30,000 despite causing environmental destruction. Sahabat Alam Malaysia had pursued the matter with the Public Prosecutor and the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) suggesting that the company, General Accomplishment Sdn. Bhd., should have been charged under Section 19...