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  Straits Times 8 Feb 07
Floods over, drought looms in Malaysia
El Nino is likely to exacerbate the annual dry season, and could trigger a water crisis

PETALING JAYA - ALTHOUGH parts of Malaysia are still mopping up after last month's devastating floods, the weatherman is warning that the country may soon be wishing for rain.

The Meteorological Department has forecast weather so dry in the weeks after the upcoming Chinese New Year that experts are telling Malaysians to brace themselves for a drought.

The Department of Environment, among other government offices, has urged people to start conserving water.

The warning came as countries around the world recently experienced unexpectedly wicked weather. Torrential rains flooded southern Malaysia last month and Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, this month while Europe has had an unusually mild winter even as arctic cold in the mid-west and north-eastern United States killed nearly a dozen people this week.

The extreme weather has been blamed on a combination of climate change and El Nino, a phenomenon of constant shifts in the tropical Pacific's ocean-atmosphere system that can suddenly affect weather conditions around the world.

That the February-March period is dry is not unusual, said Associate Professor David Higgitt from the National University of Singapore's geography department, but El Nino could push temperatures up further.

Still, things may let up, Prof Higgitt said, pointing to forecasts that the El Nino effect could weaken in the second quarter of the year.

He explained: 'While the higher temperatures could lead to droughts, what we would be more concerned about is if El Nino continues to strengthen into the year...leading to a longer and more enhanced dry season. That would be when things like the haze would be an issue.'

Malaysia's Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment S. Sothinathan said the country must be prepared for possible drought even though El Nino's impact on it is expected to be moderate.

'It is difficult for us to predict its severity. We do not want people to complain when it comes,' he said.

The deputy minister spoke at a press conference following the opening of a forum on flood risk. There, he urged Malaysians to be on alert and conserve water in anticipation of the drought.

The country is also on high alert for peat and bush fires. Muadzam and Tebu Hitam in Pahang, as well as Batang Berjuntai in Selangor, have been identified as potential hot spots.

The Drainage and Irrigation Department's director-general Keizrul Abdullah said the country's dams had enough water to last three months, should there be no rain at all.

Meanwhile, the state co-owners of Klang Valley's main water supplier have met the government to explore alternative sources of the precious resource, in the event of a water crisis brought on by drought.

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Lim Keng Yaik said in Putrajaya that it was decided there were good prospects for scouting for underground water. 'This will help mitigate any dry season that may hit the Klang Valley in the months to come,' he said. 'My ministry is aware of the warning for drought. But at present, there is enough water and enough storage capacity.'

The environment ministry has drawn up a comprehensive contingency plan to cope with the expected drought. It includes measures such as getting Malaysians to conserve water and drawing underground water as a replacement.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, SIN CHEW DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, BERNAMA ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ARTI MULCHAND

Yahoo News 9 Feb 07
Flood-hit Malaysia prepares for drought

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Just weeks after devastating floods subsided, Malaysia has begun preparing for a drought forecast to hit the country next month. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said the government was monitoring water levels and would ration supplies if necessary after weather experts predicted the effects of El Nino, which causes abnormally dry weather in the region, would be particularly severe this year.

Najib also said Malaysia would clamp down on burning during the dry season and work closely with its neighbours to prevent a repeat of last year's choking haze, caused mainly by open burning in forests in Sumatra.

"This is very critical, especially in view of the Visit Malaysia Year now," the state Bernama news agency quoted Najib as saying Friday.

The national utility firm, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, said it was preparing for a surge in electricity demand as people resort to air-conditioning during the extreme weather. "Usually, the dry spell due to the El Nino will cause electricity consumption to rise... during the hot weather, more people will install air-conditioners," Bernama quoted chief executive Che Khalib Mohamad Noh as saying.

He added that all major power plants would continue operating as usual despite concerns about low water levels.

According to the Meteorological Services website, El Nino occurs every three to seven years, when a warm current of water replaces the usual cold current off the west coast of Peru in South America.

It is linked to some major unusual weather conditions in different parts of the world, including severe floods and prolonged droughts. "This would result in abnormally dry conditions over Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and northern Australia during an El Nino," the meteorological department said.

El Nino usually lasts between nine and 18 months, and the two strongest occurred in 1982-83 and 1997-98.

Two waves of devastating floods concentrated in Malaysia's south killed 18 people, forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes and caused damages of at least 1.5 billion ringgit (428.27 million dollars) earlier this year.
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