By JOHOR JOTTINGS
By NELSON BENJAMIN | Mar 29, 2010
All parties must play a part in water crisis
JOHOR BARU: The state’s water crisis started when about 25,000 residents in some parts of Kluang started experiencing water rationing just days before Chinese New Year.
This did not go down well especially with the Chinese, when cooking for the reunion dinner was interrupted, with taps running dry after the water level at the Sembrong Timur water treatment plant dipped below the critical mark.
People were calling the media to highlight their problems, hardship and vent their frustration although the authorities through Syarikat Air Johor Holdings Sdn Bhd (SAJ) had dispatched water tankers to the affected areas and even set up static water tanks.
Chinese New Year has come and gone and it has been over one and a half months, but the crisis in the state does not seem to be getting better. Instead, the situation seems to be turning for the worse with the water rationing exercise extended to include more than 500,000 residents of Batu Pahat beginning today after the Bekok Dam, showed a slight drop below the 10m critical mark.
Since last month, the state government through the state exco in charge of water has been chairing weekly meetings with relevant state water agencies and assemblymen from the affected areas to draw up contingency plans.
Among the initiatives include almost daily cloud seeding to create artificial rain around the catchment areas in Batu Pahat and Kluang, to deepen the Sembrong Dam in Kluang to ensure it holds more water, building an inflatable rubber dam in Sembrong Timur and even building a new dam in Kahang by 2013.
So will all this mitigation process ensure that Johor’s 11 existing dams be able to supply water uninterrupted in the future?
There are many who blame the present drought on the Al Nino weather phenomenon which had not just hit Johor or Malaysia but many countries in the region.
So what if this phenomenon dubbed the Act of God continues for about a month or two with no rainfall causing many of the major dams to dry up?
It is time the state government take serious measures to address the problems especially those highlighted in the 2008 Auditor-General’s report which has outlined eight strategies about the state’s raw water management.
The findings of the report are shocking when after so many years, vast tracks of land around catchment areas, totalling almost 100,000ha, have yet to be gazatted.
The report also showed that there was rampant encroachment by plantations and farmers, into dams in the state and there was poor coordination among the states water agencies.
(The report included photographs showing farming, rearing of livestock and oil palm plantations within the vicinity of the Machap Dam).
How can enforcement be done by any agency if the land in or around our state’s dams are not gazetted or marked properly?
Funds should be allocated immediately for the Johor Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) to carry out surveys and propose sites to be fenced up to prevent encroachment.
The first to go should be oil palm plantations near the fringes of our water sources as these plants are regarded as water guzzlers, as they absorb too much water or can even cause soil erosion.
The chemicals including pesticides and fertilisers used for the plants could also seep and contaminate the water source. There should also be a buffer zone between the plantation and the dams, an official from the states authority said, adding that this was rampant at the Bekok Dam.
The state should start a project to plant big trees apart from oil palm, around the catchment areas, as these trees will allow for the air around the dams to be cooler causing less water to evaporate especially during the dry season.
The authorities such as Department of Environment (DOE), DID and State Water Regulatory Authority (Bakaj) should also work together and carry out strict enforcement especially fining or even taking companies or individuals caught polluting the rivers or streams to court.
Besides proactive action from the Government and agencies, the public can also play their part by ensuring there is no unnecessary wastage of water.
It is time for all parties to play a role during this water crisis as in the long term, building dams alone will not solve our water problem, but only by plugging the loop holes in the system will we be able to conserve and stretch our water resources for the next 100 years.
The write welcomes feedback that can be emailed to nelson@thestar.com.my
Other news:
|