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Publication
date: 17 may, 2000
By Toman Mamora
KUCHING – Preservation and control of the environment must be approached in a pragmatic way and treated as part and parcel of the State Government’s development programme, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud.
The
responsibility in ensuring its success must not be left to the Government alone
to shoulder, he said, adding that it would entail a change of mindset of the
people and their long-term co-operation.
He
advised against tackling the environmental problems in an abstract way as was
being done in most developed countries in the West. “ We must not look at
specific instances in the developed countries as a guide to be used to criticise
our policies on environment”, he added, when delivering his winding-up specch
at the State Legislative Assembly yesterday.
The
Legislative Assembly was told that the problem of environmental pollution in
Sarawak was minimal, compared with that in the developed countries,. “As a
result, the damage inflicted is less and the remedy needed less,” stressed the
Chief Minister.
Even
then, proactive measures would be taken by the government to arrest the problem
at its infant stage and reflect such a concern in its major development
activities, assured Datuk Patinggi Taib. “ We give top priority to preserving
our natural surrounding when harnessing our resources in the timber industry,
mining and agriculture sector. It is done in such a way that by controlling
damages, we can tackle the environmental problem at the same time,” he added.
In
response to an earlier request made by State Assemblyman for Simunjan Haji
Naroden Majais, Datuk Patinggi Taib assured the State Government would take
appropriate measures to put a stop to the shipment of toxic wastes from Sarawak
by certain manufacturing companies, a practice which he described as hazardous
to the environment and health of the people.
Haji
Naroden had pointed out to the State Legislative Assembly last Friday, while
debating on the motion of thanks to the Head of State, that a safe and proper
system should be designed for the storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous
and highly toxic industrial wastes. He had
also urged the Ministry of Environment and Public Health, NREB and DOE to take
precautionary measures to stop the present unhealthy and dangerous practice of
manufacturing companies shipping their wastes out of the state and work towards
developing a safe and environment-friendly system of toxic waste disposal.
The
Chief Minister told the State Legislative Assembly that the State Government had
already identified the areas of environmental control it was capable of handling
and would enhance co-operation with the Federal Government on areas which
required high-level expertise and enormous resources.
He
was pleased to note that most State Assemblymen had expressed concern on the
environment and made laudable suggestions when debating on the Water (Amendment)
Bill, 2000. He was optimistic that with the passing of the Water(Amendment)
Bill, practical measures could be taken to control certain activities in areas
which had been designated for water catchment.
Datuk
Patinggi Taib also said that the Ministry of Local Government and Environment
would asked to step up its effort in monitoring and managing the environment,
especially in the urban areas. With the expansion of the Local Government
responsibilities, he said an inspectorate system would have to be set up in the
City and Municipal Councils in order to lend more weight to the environment
control and management programme. He also hoped that the councils would
introduce new measures and devise environment-care activities which would
involve the participation of people.
In
tackling the environmental problem on a bigger plane, “ we need the grow with
the people step by step”, said Datuk Patinggi Taib who stressed that the
people had the capacity to achieve a sense of balance.
He
acknowledged that to date only towns could afford to adopt the operating
framework to tackle the various environmental problems, adding that for the same
to apply in the rural areas attitudinal change must first be effected.
He
called on the State Assemblymen to establish closer rapport with people at the
grassroots level so that the latter would be able to understand better the
Government’s policies and rapid pace of development. Failure to do so would
result in the widening of the social and intellectual gap, which in turn would
give rise to numerous social problems.
He
urged the legislators to step up efforts to change the mentality of the people
in their respective constituencies and to gradually involve them in productive
debates so that they would be able to look at development beyond the traditional
confines of their villages.
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