KUALA LUMPUR – Perak ruler Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah today warned against pursuing greed and overdevelopment at the expense of the environment, in the aftermath of several natural disasters such as flash floods and landslides that struck the nation recently.
Sultan Nazrin said the recent disasters may be the toll exacted by the Almighty for how careless the nation had become in managing its environment.
“Lately, natural disasters that have been occurring with increasing frequency should be regarded as a divine censure of our misbehaviour, turning nature against us,” he said in his speech when opening the Perak assembly.
“The obsession for infrastructure developments and business profits cannot justify our greed to wreck the environment. By the word of Allah, may He be praised and exalted, in Verse 41, Surah Ar-Rum states that ‘damage has appeared throughout the land and sea because of the doings of the people’s actions, that He may let them taste part of (the consequence of) what they have done that perhaps they may return (to righteousness)’,” said Sultan Nazrin.
The Perak ruler said that technological advancement alone cannot rein in disasters resulting from environmental devastation at the hands of man.
He advised that national growth and development must be tempered with respect and love for the environment to cultivate awareness so that “man and nature can co-exist to attain a balance between growth and regeneration”.
Sultan Nazrin also highlighted the “unprecedented” production of plastic, which he said has exceeded the total production of the 20th century in the first decade of the 21st century.
Malaysia is the second-highest user of plastic in Asia at 69.54kg per capita, he said.
“On average, Malaysians use 300 plastic bags per annum and discard more than 30,000 tons of plastic into the seas every year. This earned Malaysia a place on the global list of ocean plastic polluters.
“Plastic debris that ends up in the water or on land takes up to four hundred years to decompose. Malaysians are sorely lacking in awareness, indifferent to the pollution hazards of plastic that can poison food and the environment. The public needs to be made aware of plastic pollution.
“Houses of worship, schools, non-governmental organisations, and the youth should assist in educating the public to refrain from or reduce the use of plastic, and avoid discarding plastic waste into surrounding water bodies or to decompose on the ground,” the ruler said.
Sultan Nazrin lauded the Perak government for its environmental policies, including the state-level Greening Malaysia programme launched last year with the aim of planting 10 million trees over a five-year period.
As of last December, the state administration has planted 2,175, 659 trees under the programme.
The ruler commended Perak’s success in its recycling efforts, as it was ranked first by the Environment and Water Ministry for collecting 313 metric tonnes of waste, more than seven times the ministry’s target of 40 metric tonnes.
Sultan Nazrin also stressed that the survival of the Malayan tiger must be “earnestly addressed”.
“Based on research, the forest reserves of Perak are an important habitat of this animal whose numbers have dwindled to a frighteningly low figure of 37 (30 adult tigers with seven cubs) still living in the wild.
“This count is extremely small when compared with available acreage capable of sustaining around two hundred tigers. To assist in reinforcing the habitat for the Malayan tiger, the state has gazetted 18,866ha for the Amanjaya Permanent Forest Reserve,” he said. – The Vibes, March 28, 2022
