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More Bite For Environmental Conservation
The first policy shift, announced in late July 2003, concerned the revamping of the Environmental Quality Act 1974. Currently, under item 6 of the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (EIA) Order 1987 which came into force on 1 April 1988, EIA reporting is only required for:
Under the amended law, all land developments irrespective of size involving forest clearing or logging activities will be subjected to EIA reports. Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, Datuk Seri Law Hieng Dieng, said this will prevent developers from finding ways to circumvent the law, such as by breaking up their initial project into smaller parts, so that in size, each of these carved-up projects is below the prohibited limit. According to the Minister, the request to change and tighten the law at Federal level came from the State authorities.
Previously, only large-scale projects required Federal approval, while small ventures could be handled and approved by the Department of Environment in the various states. The Minister said that, "As development on highlands and islands is sensitive, all EIA reports will be vetted by the Federal government. With the new regulation, State authorities can continue receiving and processing applications, but has to obtain final approval from Putrajaya (refering to Malaysia's new Federal administrative capital) '" He added that the directive will be issued as soon as possible so that it can take effect by early September 2003. On Sabah and Sarawak, the two east Malaysian states outside the peninsular and which are exempted from Federal control over such issues, Datuk Seri Law who is also the Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Highlands and Islands, said the two states have their own regulations which are provided for under the Malaysian Constitution. However, the Department of Environment at Federal level will coordinate with the two state governments to review developments in the two states. Meanwhile, the National Programme Director of World Wide Fund for Nature, Malaysia (WWF), Dr. Dinonysius Sharma, said the WWF Malaysia welcomed such changes, which would effectively pass the governance on ElAs from State to Federal control. He however, called for the establishment of a central body to continuously review not only the environmental but also the socioeconomic impact of any proposed development. He hoped that the two positive shifts in environmental governance would be the precursor of many more to come. |
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The
Federal Government is making two major policy changes in efforts to ensure that
environmental conservation policies are in tune to the country's desire to
practice sustainable development, as pledged by Malaysia at the Earth Summit in
Pio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. Both changes entail empowering authorities at
the federal level, through the Ministry of Science, Technology and the
Environment, to have the final say on matters such as the need for Environmental
lmpact Assessrnent (EIA) reporting for forest clearing or logging activities,
and approval of all EIA reports on developments in highlands and islands. Such
powers previously rested with the respective State authorities in Peninsular
Malaysia.
The
second shift in policy was announced in early August 2003, when Datuk Seri Law
said that State governments will no longer be allowed to approve EIA reports
pertaining to development on highlands and islands in all states of Peninsular
Malaysia. The federal Government, through his Ministry, will now be the sole
authority to approve or reject such reports taking into account all relevant
factors to ensure the preservation of the country's highlands and islands.
MTC’s
