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  Bernama 1 Nov 06
Good Governance Key To Environmental Well-being
By Melati Mohd Ariff

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 (Bernama) -- Environmental well-being is closely linked to sustainable development but human greed under the guise of development remains a constant threat.

In fact certain natural catastrophes like landslides and flash floods are due to mankind who continue to plunder the earth's surface and its resources. Yet the catastrophes don't stop there.

The annual cross border haze problem and global warming is a clear statement that the environmental degradation is not confined to any particular nation or region, but is a global problem.

One thing for sure, the effects of destruction caused by mankind today will be inherited by future generations. It seems that universal destruction is the price we are paying for unbridled development.

THE MALAYSIAN SCENARIO

Hence, are we going to continue with activities that are detrimental to the environment and earth? Day in, day out we are inundated with issues regarding the environment; issues concerning solid waste, water resources, coastal zones and river pollution and there seems to be no ending to these.

Often society comes up with the same assumption -- that is the government's responsibility. If it's so, then where is our responsibility as individuals and members of the community?

THE IMPACT OF CHANGE

Regardless of the type of environmental problem, the core issue is the same -- how to manage the impact to the environment caused by mankind's actions.

This is the essence of the speech delivered by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin when officiating the Third Bangi World Conference on Environment Management recently.

She elucidated that "managing change is a complex matter especially when it comes to the environment".

She noted that, in many instances, environmental issues were linked to human factors. "Therefore, managing change not only entails our good understanding of the environment and the scientific facts, but also how people and organisations manage themselves.

"What is needed is an understanding of the current situation and also the probabilities of the future.

"Managing the environment needs an approach that touches on human emotions, taking into account socio-political factors and technology and also the involvement of various parties," she said.

CHANGING THE PARADIGM

The community in general only asks. Often we hear "why are the rivers and drains filthy, and rubbish everywhere?".

But just how many of us are willing to come forward and cooperate with the authorities to tackle the issues.

UKM's Environment and Development Institute (Lestari) director, Prof Dr Mazlin Mokhtar, in an interview with Bernama, touched on the importance of changing mindsets and the need for a paradigm shift.

He was of the opinion that the common excuse "that there is not enough staff or monetary allocation to effect action immediately" was no longer acceptable.

Malaysians must be proactive and appreciate that what is being done is for their own sake and for the generations to come and not because they have to do it or because of the regulations.

An environment-friendly lifestyle is most welcomed.

COOPERATION BETWEEN PARTIES

He also stressed that it was important to establish cooperation between the people in charge of matters pertaining to the environment.

"We don't lack good managers. We have many of them but how are we to ensure that they communicate with each other. That is the challenge," he said.

The cooperation should also include the sharing of information. "There are some who want to share information but just don't know how. Some want to use information belonging to others, but are reluctant to share the information at their disposal," he said.

According to Mazlin, what all Malaysians must realise was that they must get moving with whatever resources at their disposal.

"The financial resources or limited energy can never be the excuse as all these will always be in short supply. "But the question is how can we creatively utilise the available resources to take the first small step?"

THREE MANAGEMENT ELEMENTS

Touching on management, Mazlin mentioned three elements that had to be taken into account, namely the structure, processes and mechanism.

"The management system should enable any party to predict, anticipate, measure, set target, monitor, report and review the situation at hand. "The management must also understand the condition, the natural resources and the environment, or in another words, must be able to take stock of what is available."

The government, he said, must take into consideration all relevant matters if it were to achieve sustainable development.

"Yet there must be certain focus. At the same time, human health cannot be ignored. If the people are not healthy, the agenda could not be implemented effectively," Mazlin.

LOAD THRESHOLD

Environment management must also focus on the load capacity. The load capacity in general refers to the total impact that can be sustained by the environment without causing negative implications.

According to Dr Mazlin, studies must be conducted on the threshold load capacity and the findings must be made known to the local community.

He gave an example of the load capacity of a river where it refers to the maximum burden that can be sustained by a river system. "If factories are to release waste water or effluent into the river, the overall load capacity of the river must be taken into account, especially when there are factories and housing areas on both sides of the river.

"Everyone will say they are complying with the load capacity but when there are thousands of homes and factories, the river becomes the victim. So is the forest ecosystem. As for small islands, how many people can the islands accommodate at any one time. How many chalets can be developed there and where the waste water is to be released," he elaborated.

FLASH FLOOD

Almost every time after a heavy downpour, flashfloods occur in Kuala Lumpur and the fingers are pointed at the government and the local authorities. But society exonerates itself from any blame although many of its members have conveniently made the river their dumping ground.

The flash floods in Kuala Lumpur are also attributed to the drastic increase in population and the fast-paced physical infrastructure development. Probably water and waste management were not given priority or were at the bottom of the list when planning development.

"That is why we need to change mindsets. When we are to start development projects, we have to think where the water is to flow, how to manage the waste, the amount of waste that the project will generate, etc. Only then we should think of the building plan and so on," said Mazlin.

PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE

In managing change, if there is no data to support any decision the parties concerned must use the precautionary principles, taking into consideration the worst-case scenario.

"Unfortunately in Malaysia, when there is no data, we consider it good as nobody can stop us. We go straight ahead in the name of development. We cut down all trees, we say never mind, Malaysia has many species of this tree," he lamented.

"What is obvious is that in managing change, though the government must be at the forefront, the multi-stakeholders' participation is highly pertinent regardless of how small their roles are."

Lestari too, said Mazlin, in its 12 years of existence played a role in facilitating research on the environment. "The extracts from our research are compiled for the use of decision-makers," he added. -- BERNAMA
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