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©The Sun (Used by permission)
by Gurmit Singh

On Merdeka Day 50 years ago, there seemed to be no environmental problem and almost no environmental activists, although the Malayan Nature Society (MNS) had existed since 1943.

But problems there definitely were except almost nobody recognised them since even MNS was, at that time, concerned with only nature and its conservation.

But the problems started growing as more forests were logged for timber as well as plantations, and for Felda schemes. Agricultural pollutants, including agrochemicals, started entering river systems, water catchments were undermined, industrial pollutants entered the atmosphere and waterways, and human waste and rubbish started piling up. But the conventional wisdom then was that this was the inevitable price for development!

Only in the 1970s did pollution and the issues associated with the destruction of natural resources start gaining some attention. This coincided with the government enacting the Environmental Quality Act, and the formation of environmental groups like the Environmental Protection Society, Malaysia (EPSM) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM).

The pollution of Sungai Juru and Sungai Klang were exposed. A joint campaign was launched to stop logging in the proposed Endau Rompin National Park. Media coverage was extensive, partly because the government was unhappy with the flouting of the Third Malaysia Plan provision for the park. The logging did not spread but the original park did not materialise.

Water pollution from palm oil mills was a major issue beginning in the mid-1970s, and it took more than a decade of campaigning by NGOs and action by the Department of Environment before it was brought under control. Batu Caves continued to be polluted by limestone quarrying until the mid-1980s when joint action by a range of NGOs and political parties resulted in the quarries' closure.

In the meantime, the federal government proposed to build the Tembeling Hydroelectric Dam in Taman Negara. A long campaign - during which the Tembeling Coordinating Committee comprising registered societies was accused by the registrar to be an illegal society - managed to stop the project, despite less media coverage than for Endau Rompin.

Also in the early 80s, the controversy around the storage of low level radioactive wastes, first at Papan and finally at Bukit Merah, Perak erupted.

For the first time, a real grassroots movement gathered strength in the area and fought the government and the joint Japanese-Malaysian company which generated the waste.

With the help of environmental NGOs, the community brought in foreign experts to challenge the company's claims of safety, and took it to court. Although the community lost the case, the company closed down a few years later due to financial problems.

Very soon after, the government announced plans for the huge Bakun hydroelectric dam in Sarawak with almost half the electricity to be transported by undersea cables to the peninsula. This project was heavily criticised by a range of NGOs and by the affected local residents who were to be displaced by the dam.

The government tarred the critics as thorns in its flesh. Even Umno Youth got into the fray. In 1986, it demonstrated outside the EPSM office against the group's president, accusing him of interfering in the Bakun project.

In 1987, a number of activists were arrested during Operation Lallang. Also arrested was the Bukit Merah Anti-Radioactive Committee chairperson.

In 1986, two NGO representatives were appointed for the first time to the Environmental Quality Council and in 1992, after returning from the Rio Summit, Prime Minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared that NGOs were no longer enemies of the government. In the subsequent years, the Langkawi Award was given to some environmentalists.

But environmental problems did not peter out. Although the Penang Hill Development project was stopped at the Environmental Impact Assessment stage, the Pulau Redang development project and the Bakun Dam were pushed through. Toxic wastes have been dumped in oil palm plantations and air pollution from motor vehicles has worsened with the escalating car sales since Proton was launched.

Today, global warming, biodiversity loss, irresponsible logging, soil erosion, mounting solid wastes, and contaminated food - from vegetables to processed foods - are still common.

The Klang River still needs cleaning and energy wastage is common, whether in houses or factories. We are spending billions on new buildings and infrastructure but maintenance is going to the dogs. The cleanliness of our drains is no better and flash floods are frequent because of rapid runoffs from tarred and concreted surfaces. Putting the blame on Mother Nature and God has become a puerile exercise.

Some have described the search for environmental quality as an uphill battle. It is left to be seen whether we will be able to achieve sustainable development by 2020, and whether the world will be able to keep any global temperature rise to below 2¼C. Otherwise the next 50 years may be an environmental nightmare, and the price we pay for development, too high.

Gurmit Singh has been fighting environmental causes since 1974. He is Centre for Environment, Technology and Development Malaysia chairman.

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