KUALA TERENGGANU: In November last year, 482 imams throughout Terengganu preached about turtle conservation at the Friday sermon in a bid to raise awareness of the species.
The one-off sermon follows the efforts by the Ma'Daerah Heritage Community Association (Mekar) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia to use mosques as a medium to spread the message of saving the turtles.
Formed in 2004, Mekar is a local community group aimed at raising awareness on turtle conservation.
The text for the sermon was peppered with help from the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia.
A report by the WWF Malaysia stated that Islamic sermons could elevate public concerns on issues of conservation.
The report also said since Friday prayers were mandatory for Muslim men, it appears worthwhile to replicate such events in other predominantly Muslim areas with different conservation contexts, such as human and wildlife conflicts and poaching hotspots.
The report was based on questionnaires handed out to the congregation at the mosque statewide.
However, further studies are needed to establish if an increase in awareness translates to conservation actions.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Dead fish float on the once pristine Sungai Dura
By R.S.N. MURALI
KUALA TERENGGANU: Sungai Dura, a source of water for 800 villagers from Kampung Pueh, was contaminated by palm oil effluent a few days ago and is in danger of dying.
Dead fish and prawns are floating on the once crystal-clear waters now covered with a coat of sticky substance.
A sickening stench is pervasive.
Terengganu’s Department of Environment (DOE) director Rusli Che Husin said the river was polluted after a direct flow of effluent from the palm oil plant’s pipeline into the river in Hulu Terengganu, about 87km from here.
“We have sent a team of officers to monitor the water quality daily and send back the reports to the department here,” he said when contacted by The Star, Tuesday.
He said the situation was not critical but the water quality could deteriorate if the river was not urgently rehabilitated.
“We are doing our best to save the river as the leakage was considered unintentional as the plant was undergoing restoration work when the incident occurred a few days ago,” he said.
The department had questioned the mill’s owner and was investigating to see if punitive action needed to be taken against the polluter.
Kampung Pueh villager Azman Che Jusoh, 33, from said villagers had no choice but to turn to artesian wells for water.
“We hope the authorities do something about reviving the river before it is totally dead, he said. -Star
KUALA TERENGGANU: Sungai Dura, a source of water for 800 villagers from Kampung Pueh, was contaminated by palm oil effluent a few days ago and is in danger of dying.
Dead fish and prawns are floating on the once crystal-clear waters now covered with a coat of sticky substance.
A sickening stench is pervasive.
Terengganu’s Department of Environment (DOE) director Rusli Che Husin said the river was polluted after a direct flow of effluent from the palm oil plant’s pipeline into the river in Hulu Terengganu, about 87km from here.
“We have sent a team of officers to monitor the water quality daily and send back the reports to the department here,” he said when contacted by The Star, Tuesday.
He said the situation was not critical but the water quality could deteriorate if the river was not urgently rehabilitated.
“We are doing our best to save the river as the leakage was considered unintentional as the plant was undergoing restoration work when the incident occurred a few days ago,” he said.
The department had questioned the mill’s owner and was investigating to see if punitive action needed to be taken against the polluter.
Kampung Pueh villager Azman Che Jusoh, 33, from said villagers had no choice but to turn to artesian wells for water.
“We hope the authorities do something about reviving the river before it is totally dead, he said. -Star
Monday, June 15, 2009
Marine life at Pulau Perhentian under threat from trash
KUALA TERENGGANU: Pulau Perhentian Besar and Kecil, the havens for marine life, are under threat environmentally due to poorly planned tourism development, ineffective sewage treatment and solid waste disposal.
The state government is worried that this could lead to severe damage to coral reefs found in abundance surrounding both islands.
State Commercial, Industry and Environment Committee chairman Toh Chin Yaw said the new chalets have compounded the problem as many of them did not have proper sewage and rubbish disposal systems.
“Some of these operators are taking the easy way out by diverting all types of wastes from their chalets direct into the sea,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Toh said during the peak season, mounds of garbage bags could also be seen around the islands, believed to have been left by these operators.
“They are blaming us for not centralising the sewage system and garbage collection without realising that it is too costly for the state government to do that.“We have commissioned a contractor to regularly collect the garbage from the islands to be disposed of on the mainland, but many of the operators are refusing to pay the maintenance fees and continued to indiscriminately throw their garbage into the sea,” he added.
Toh said the state government would build a sewage treatment plant on the islands if the operators were willing to pay the monthly maintenance fees.
However, he doubted that they would do so as at present, they were also unwilling to share part of their revenues to be utilised for the pollution control efforts as advocated by the state government.
“We are intensifying our environmental awareness programme, besides encouraging operators to improve their waste facilities.
“We will also rope in the relevant authorities to educate these operators on the importance of protecting the eco-system at these islands,” he added.-Star
The state government is worried that this could lead to severe damage to coral reefs found in abundance surrounding both islands.
State Commercial, Industry and Environment Committee chairman Toh Chin Yaw said the new chalets have compounded the problem as many of them did not have proper sewage and rubbish disposal systems.
“Some of these operators are taking the easy way out by diverting all types of wastes from their chalets direct into the sea,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Toh said during the peak season, mounds of garbage bags could also be seen around the islands, believed to have been left by these operators.
“They are blaming us for not centralising the sewage system and garbage collection without realising that it is too costly for the state government to do that.“We have commissioned a contractor to regularly collect the garbage from the islands to be disposed of on the mainland, but many of the operators are refusing to pay the maintenance fees and continued to indiscriminately throw their garbage into the sea,” he added.
Toh said the state government would build a sewage treatment plant on the islands if the operators were willing to pay the monthly maintenance fees.
However, he doubted that they would do so as at present, they were also unwilling to share part of their revenues to be utilised for the pollution control efforts as advocated by the state government.
“We are intensifying our environmental awareness programme, besides encouraging operators to improve their waste facilities.
“We will also rope in the relevant authorities to educate these operators on the importance of protecting the eco-system at these islands,” he added.-Star
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