THE Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) urges the Environment and Water Ministry and state governments to enhance their efforts and improve water management to meet the basic needs of the people in this country.
At the same time, CAP also calls on the public to value water in their lives by practising frugality and not wasting it.
In conjunction with this year’s World Water Day – which falls on March 22 with the theme Valuing Water – CAP hopes that everyone works together to restore and protect water resources that have been seriously affected in recent years.
CAP’s field investigation found that threats to water resources – such as destruction of catchment areas due to logging activities; and pollution of rivers and seas by industrial waste, sewage, agrochemical residue, and sediment from agricultural areas, animal manure, and livestock waste including garbage disposal – have increased, causing deterioration of water quality.
We also found that drainage in agricultural areas was used as a dumping ground of pesticide containers by a handful of farmers causing the water to be polluted and threatening aquatic life.
Recent incidents such as the depletion of water in reservoirs in several dams, such as the Muda Dam in Kedah, and river pollution in Selangor and the Kim Kim River in Johor are evidence of deteriorating water quality which has affected the quality of life of the population in the area.
The water quality in Timah Tasoh Lake in Perlis and Tasik Chini in Pahang have also been affected by environmental pollution from the surrounding areas.
Meanwhile, the seawater in the country’s waters has been polluted by various wastes including waste oil from merchant ships, which happens often such as in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, causing marine life to be endangered and the source of income of fishermen severely affected.
In Kedah, tens of thousands of residents in the state are complaining and worried that their health will be affected because the supply of tap water is not only reduced but also dirty and silty. Communities sourcing water from the hills – known as “community water” – also complain that the supply is contaminated with mud as a result of uncontrolled logging and extractive activities in the catchment area.
The threat to water resources also affects the agricultural sector where many agricultural areas, especially paddy fields, have experienced declining yields, thus threatening farmers’ source of income.
In general, the problems related to water not only affects the health of consumers, the agriculture, fisheries, and food supply sectors but also our country’s economy.
Therefore, the slogan to save our forests, our rivers and our sea should not remain mere slogans. We should all play our part in protecting our water resources from being threatened and ensure that water is safe to use.
Water-related laws need to be reviewed in line with the current situation. The party who commits an offence of affecting water resources should be punished more severely commensurate with the offence committed.
CAP recommends that more cooperation between the government and non-governmental organisations be established in an effort to raise awareness of the global water crisis and measures to safeguard this critical resource for everyone’s benefit. – The Vibes, March 21, 2021
Mohideen Abdul Kader is president of Consumers Association of Penang (CAP)
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