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Akademika 42 43 1993) 181 - 2 4

Issues on Environmental Management ThroughLegislative Measures in MalaysiaJAMALUDDIN MD JAHI

ABSTRACTThe management of the environment through legislative measures is not newinMalaysia. The first attempt to address the problems of land degradationand silting in water courses due to mining activities through legislativemeasures wasmade at theclose of last century. Since then a number of otherenvironment related legislation was made covering various aspects of theenvironment. To date, there are at least 43 pieces of environment-relatedlegislation which are still effect. This paper examines the management ofthe environment through legislative measures inMalaysia. It evaluates thestrengths and weaknesses of environmental management through legislativemeasures inMalaysia in relation to specific environmental issues such aswater quality air quality solid waste management and noise pollution. Theenforcement of legislation especially for the control of water pollutiondischarges from prescribed premises has been quite successful. However forthe control of air andnoise pollution the enforcement effort has been quiteslow and not very effective andmay be on the other hand which is moreacute; the relevant legislation is simply not enforced. Itis suggested that allthe available environment related legislation together with the institutionalarrangement to be given a thorough review to ensure a more effectiveenforcement.

A B S T R A K

Pengurusan alam sekitar melalui tindakan undang undang bukanlah sesuatuyang baru diMalaysia. Percubaan pertama secara undang undang bagimengatasi masalah kemerosotan kualiti tanah dan kelodakan air yangdisebabkan oleh kegiatan melombong telah dilakukan di akhir kurun yangsudah. Sejak itu beberapa undang undang lain yang berkaitan dengan alamsekitar telah diwujudkan. KM terdapat sekurang kurangnya 43 undangundang yang berkaitan dengan alam sekitar yang masih dikuatkuasakan.Kertas ini membincangkan pengurusan alam sekitar melalui langkah undangundang di Malaysia. Kekuatan dan kelemahan langkah langkah ini dinilaidengan rujukan kepada isu isu tertentu alam sekitar seperti kualiti air danudara pengurusan pembuangan sisa pepejal dan pencemaran bunyi.Penguatkuasaan undang undang terutama dari segi pencemaran air dari

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182 Akademika 42 43tempat tempat yang telah ditetapkan agakberjaya. Tetapi bagipengawalanpencemaran udara dan bunyi bising langkah penguatkuasaannya kurangberkesan dan pada sebahagiannya yang mungkin lebih mendesak undangundang yang berkaitan tidak langsung dikuatkuasakan. Adalah dicadangkansupaya semua peraturan yang berkaitan denganalam sekitar dikaji semulabagi memastikan keberkesanannya.

INTRODUCTION

The management of the environment through legislative measures is not anew or recent phenomenon in Malaysia. In fact the first attempt at usinglegislations in managing the environment was made at the close of lastcentury. Since thena number of other environment-related legislations wereenacted. However, despite the availability of numerous environment-relatedlegislations, parts of the environment are stillexperiencing degradation whilenewareasareconstantly beingaddedto the list of thoseareas needing properenvironmental management strategies.This paper examines the management of the environment throughlegislative measures in Malaysia. The paper will first look into theenvironmental related policies and the legal instruments in trying to meetthe policy objectives. The state of the environment will then be assessedin terms of the effectiveness of environmental management effortsthrough legislative measures. The paper focusses on a number of issuesrelated to the management such as the provisions in the Constitution,inadequacies of the legislations, institutional arrangements, and enforcementwhich render the management efforts in Malaysia still not very effective.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND STRATEGIESThe setting up of the Division of Environment (presently known as theDepartment of Environment) three years after the Stockholm Conferencein 1972, marks the beginning of an organized and committed effort of thegovernment as regards the environment in general. The inclusion of theNational Environmental Policy for the first time in the Third Malaysia s five-yeardevelopment plan (Malaysia 1976a), shows the government's concernfor the environment alongside the efforts to develop the nation s economy.Malaysia s overall environmental policy takes account of the followingfactors:1. The impact that population growth and man s activitiesin resource development, industrialization and urbanization have

on the envi ronment.

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Issues onEnvironmental Management 1832. The critical importance of maintaining the quality of the environmentrelative to the needs of the population, particularly in regard to theproductive capacity of the country s land resources in agriculture, forestry,

f isheries and water .3. The need to maintain a healthy environment for human habitation.4. The need to preserve the country s unique and diverse natural heritage,all of which contribute to the quality of life.5. The interdependence ofsocial,

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]84 Akademika 42 43ecological balance within thecontext of sustainable development (Malaysia1991).In order to achieve the goalsof the environmental objectives outlinedabove the Department of Environment adopted a three-pronged strategybased on pollution control and prevention, the integration of environmentalfactors in project planning and implementation, and environmental inputsinto resource and regional development planning. The three-prongedstrategy is supported by other on-going environmental programmes thatinclude environmentalmonitoring; environmental education, information andtraining; environmental research and development; inter-agency andFederal-State co-operation and programmes coordination through the StateEnvironmental Action Committees aswell as through bilateral, regional andinternational legal and institutional arrangements. The following section willlook at the environmental related legislations available which forms anintegral part of realizing the environmental policy objectives outlinedabove.

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATIONS

Legislative measures have long been used in Malaysia in managing theenvironment. Presently there are at least 43environmental related legislationsinMalaysia (Table 1). However, most ofthe legislations were not actuallyformulated to deal with the environment in general. A larger proportionof the legislations seeks to regulate human activities that may directlyor indirectly affect the quality of the environment, while some arepreventivein nature for the purpose of controlling the recurrence of fresh sourcesof pollution and retarding any possible environmental deterioration.When the legislations were made they were naturally sufficient to tacklewhatever related problems at that time. However, especially afterIndependence when the progress of development was very rapid, theselegislations were rendered inadequate to tackle theproblems ofenvironmentaldeterioration, especially from a number of new sources.Most of the legislations as listed in Table 1 are largely sectoral incharacter focusing on specific activity areas and do not encourage anintegrated approach to environmental policy implementation. Furthermore,most of them are under the jurisdiction of a number of other governmentagencies. Even formatters related to certain pollution aspects such aswater,air, noise, and solid waste are put under the charge of a number ofgovernment departments.The Environmental Quality Act, 1974 (Malaysia 1974a), was made asa comprehensive piece of legislation that provides an equal basis for thecoordination of all activities related to the control of the environment. Thisact forms the basis for the development of environmental legislation in this

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table 1. Environment related legislations in Malaysia1. Waters Enactment,-Chapter 146, 19202. Mining Enactment, Chapter 147, 19293. Mining Rules, gn. 2426, 1934.4. Forest Enactment, Chapter 153, 19355. Natural Resources Ordinance, 19496. Poisons Ordinance, 19527. Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 19528. Sale of Food and Drugs Ordinance, No. 28 dan ln 537, 19529. Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, No. 30, 195210. Federation Port Rules, 195311. Irrigation Areas Ordinance, No. 31, 195312. Drainage Works Ordinance, No. 1, 195413. Medicine (Sales and Advertisement) Ordinance, No. 10, 195614. Explosives Ordinance, 195715. The Road Traffic Ordinance, 195816. Land Conservation Act, Act 3, 196017. National Land Code, Act 56 & P.P. 474, 196518. Housing Development Act (Licensing and Control), 196519. Radioactive Substances Act, Act 17, 196820. Civil Aviation Act, Act 3, 196921. Malaria Eradication Act, Act 52, 197122. Continental Shelf Act, 1966, Act 83 (Revised), 197223. Petroleum Mining Act, Act 95, 197224. City of Kuala Lumpur (Planning) Act, Act 107, 197325. Environmental Quality Act, Act 127, 197426. Geological Survey Act, Act 129, 197427. Street, Drainage and Building Act, Act 133, 197428. Aboriginal Peoples Act, 1954, Act 134 (Revised), 197429. Factories and Machinery Act, 1967, Act 139 (Revised), 197430. Pesticides Act, Act 149, 197431. Destruction of Disease-Bearing Insects Act, Act 154, 197532. Municipal and Town Boards (Amendment) Act, Act A289, 197533. The Protection of Wildlife Act, Act 76, 1972; (Revised),197634. Antiquities Act, Act 168, 197635. Local Government Act, Act 171, 197636. Town and Country Planning Act, Act 172, 197637. National Parks Act, Act 226, 198038. Malaysian Highway AuthorityAct, Act 231, 198039. Pig Rearing Enactment, 198040. Atomic Energy Licensing Act, Act 304, 198441. Exclusive Economic Zone Act, Act 311, 198442. National Forestry Act, Act 313, 198443. Fisheries Act, 1963, Act 317, 1985Source: Jamaluddin 1991

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country. Section 3 (1) of the Act allows the appointment of a Director Generalof EnvironmentalQuality to administerthis Act and whose powers, duties andfunctions, among others, shall be to co-ordinate all activities relating to thedischarge of wastes into the environment and for preventing or controllingpollution and protecting and enhancing the quality of the environment.Actually the Environmental Quality Act is not only enacted for thepurpose of preventing environmental deterioration but also to enhance thequality of the environment. For these purposes the Act contains clearprovisions as regards a number of environmental related aspects, such asair pollution (Section 22); noise pollution (Section 23); pollution on land(Section 24); pollution of inland waters (Section 25); oil pollution ormixture containing oil into Malaysian waters (Section 27); and dischargeof wastes into Malaysian waters (Section 29). All prohibitions containedunder the various sections mentioned above are to be specified by theMinister after consultation with the Environmental Quality Council (Section21). In addition, Section 34 (A) EnvironmentalQualityAct (Revised), 1985as enforced on 9 January 1986, requires a report on impact on theenvironment resulting from prescribed activities to be submitted to theDirector General, who shall after examining and inquiries decide whether toapprove or not to approve the report.

Section 51 (1) of the Environmental QualityAct, allows the Minister afterconsultation with the Council to make various regulations for the protectionof the environment. The regulations can prescribe standards or criteria,prohibit discharge, emission, or use of any equipment and requiring theexercise of safety precautions for operations. To further enhance the strategyof the Department of Environment in controlling pollution and remedyingadverse environmental conditions several regulations were gazetted forenforcement under the Environmental Quality Act, 1974 (Table 2).PRESENT STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Malaysia's economic development strategy since the introduction of the NewEconomic Policy (NEP) in 1970 notonly involved basicchanges in the questfor achieving the goal of eradicating poverty, but also had hastened thedevelopment process in the following years especially during the 1970- 80decade. The rapid development process sometimes was carried out withouttaking real consideration on the possible impact on the environment.As such a numberof environmental relatedproblemssurfaced parallel to thedevelopment efforts. Actually, environmental quality degradation is not anew problem in Malaysia since the same problem which was of lessermagnitude existed even during the colonial period. At that time theenvironment could absorb part of the pollutants generated by varioussources. However, recently pollution has reached a stage where its adverse

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table 2. Regulations and orders enforced bythe Department of Environment

Regulations/Order Effective dateo f EnforcementEnvironmental Quality (Licensing)Regulations 1977, P.U.(A) 198 01 Oct. 1977Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises)(Crude Palm Oil) Regulations 1977 Amendment(1982), P.U.(A) 342 04 Nov. 1977Motor Vehicle (Control of Smoke and GasEmissions) Rules 1977 (made under the RoadTraffic Ordinance 1958), P.U.(A) 414 22 Dec. 1977Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises)(Crude Palm Oil) Order 1977, P.U.(A) 199 01 July 1978Environmental Quality (Clean Air)Regulations 1978, P.U.(A) 280 01 Oct. 1978Environmental Quality (Compounding ofOffences) Regulations 1978, P.U.(A) 281 01 Oct. 1978Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises)(Raw Natural Rubber) Regulations 1978Amendment (1980), P.U.(A) 338 01 Dec. 1978Environmental Quality (Sewage and IndustrialEffluents) Regulations 1979,P.U.(A) 12 01 Jan. 1979Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises)(Raw Natural Rubber) (Amendment) Order 1978P.U.(A) 337 01 Apr. 1979Environmental Quality (Control of LeadConcentration in Motor Gasoline) Regulations1985, P.U.(A) 296 11 July 1987Environmental Quality (Motor Vehicle Noise)Regulations 1987, P.U.(A) 244 16 July 1987Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities)(Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 1987,P.U.(A) 362 01 Apr. 1988Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes)Regulations 1989, P.U.(A) 139 01 May 1989Environmental Quality (Scheduled WastesTreatment and Disposal Facilities) Regulations1989, P.U.(A) 140 01 May 1989Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises)(Scheduled Wastes Treatment and DisposalFacilities) Regulations 1989, P.U.(A) 141 01 May 1989

Source:Department of Environment 1992

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effects are beginning to be felt, especially in urban areas where there isconcentration of populationand activities. Althoughin general the pollutionlevel in Malaysia is still lower comparedto the level of pollution in somedeveloped countries, there is a cause for concern as the situation can getworse, especially with increasing number of development projects approvedannually. This section looks at the problems of water pollution, air quality,noise pollution and solid and hazardous waste pollutions.WATER POLLUTION

The seriousness of water pollution problem in some areas during the early1970's was confirmed by studiesconductedby theDivisionof Environmentwhereby in 1976 therewere a total of 42 rivers in Peninsular Malaysia alonewhich were polluted, another 16 were beginning to be polluted and sevenmore were having the potentials to be polluted (BahagianAlam Sekitar 1982: 7). However, the conditionhas improved in the earlier years of the 1980decade (Department of Environment 1986 : 10) and in 1987, out of 35 mainrivers monitored by the Department of Environment, only four rivers werestill grossly polluted (Jamaluddin 1990). However, the overall situation hasnot changed very much for the five-year period between 1987 and 1991(Table 3). In fact a number of the previously clean rivers has becomeslightly polluted (Department of Environment 1992).

TABLE 3. Malaysia: status of river water quality, 1987 - 1991(in terms of Water Quality Index)S t a t u s 1 9 8 7 1 9 8 8 1989 1 9 9 0 1991

Clean 4 3 4 8 4 5 . 48 3 7Slightly polluted 45 4 0 43 35 4 4Very polluted 3 3 3 7 6Source: Department of Environment 1992: 53

Insofar asthe sources ofwater pollution is concerned, theDepartment ofEnvironment identified sewage and animal waste as themajor contributors toriver pollution in 1991, with silt ranking a close second (Department ofEnvironment 1992: 33). The index of NH3-N showed that 47 percent ofthe53 rivers in Peninsular Malaysia were found to be very polluted. Incomparison, 1990 revealed 41 percent of the rivers were very polluted.The Department of Environment identifiedsiltingdue to land erosion asa very serious problem of river pollution in the mid-1980s (Department of

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IssuesonEnvironmental Management 189Environment 1986), and in fact in 1987 there were 11 rivers in PeninsularMalaysia which were seriously polluted by suspended sediment (Jamaluddin1990). The situation hasworseneddue to intensive land clearing, uncontrolleddevelopment, mining and logging activities which resulted in 29 rivers (54percent) were classified as very polluted and20 percent slightly polluted in1991 (Department of Environment 1992). Silting not only lead to theshallowing of rivers, but also flooding, especially flash floods in urban areas,such as in Kuala Lumpur, which tend to be more frequent and more serious(Jamaluddin 1986, 1988; Jamaluddin & Sham 1987).Previously, the major sources of water pollution were the agro-basedindustries especially from rubber factories, palmoilmills, pineapple factories,tapioca factories and sugar factories which discharged high amount oforganic effluents especially into rivers and other water courses. However,with more stringent control measures adopted by the Department ofEnvironment since 1977, the BOD load has been greatly reduced. In 1991 onlyfive rivers were seriously polluted in terms of bod.Another type of water pollution in rivers passing through an urban areais suspended solid waste. The problem of suspended solid waste in the riverwhich is caused by squatters who treat the river as their backyard fordisposing their domestic waste is given a clear account by Hairi, Sulong& Jamaluddin (1987); Jamaluddin (1987a; 1987b) in their studies alongSungai Klang and its tributaries.Monitoring of heavy metals in rivers revealed that in 1991 three riversin Penang were badly affected by mercury pollution anda number of riversin Peninsular Malaysia were having lead levels exceeding 0.02 mg l1(Department ofEnvironment 1992). Most of the affected rivers are situatedin the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia where there is more rapid land usedevelopment and industrialization.Insofar as marine pollution is concerned, in terms of oil pollution thecoastal waters of South China Sea are relatively less polluted compared to theStraits of Malacca. However, with the increase in oil exploration andproduction from oil rigs off the coasts of Peninsular Malaysia and of Sabahand Sarawak, it can be reasonably expected that there could have beena concomitant increase in coastal marine pollution. In any case, since thesewaters are major shipping lanes they are subject to pollution as a resultof washing of tanks at sea and minor accidents or collisions of ships.In 1987 through to 1991, the coastal waters of Malaysia on the wholewas still polluted due to suspended solid, Escherichia Coliform, andoil and grease (Department of Environment 1989a; 1989b; 1990; 1991;1992). The coastal waters was also polluted by toxic heavy metals suchas cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury and nickel especially inthe northern states of the Peninsula .

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19 Akademika 42 43A IR P O LL U TI O N

In the past some researchers were of the opinion that air pollutionwasnot going to be a serious problemfor Malaysiabecausethis country receivesheavyrainfall in the orderof 2200mm annually which wasthought to be abletowashaway the air pollutants. Recently, however, as a resultof rapidurbandevelopment and industrialization the opinion does not seem to work,especially in the urban centres (Sham & Jamaluddin 1987).The industrial and vehicular traffic congested areas in the countrycontinued to record high levels of particulates, whilstthe levels of particulatesremained relatively low in the commercial, residential and rural areas(Departmentof Environment 1990). In the heavy vehicular traffic areas, 83%of the stations monitored in 1989 recorded annual mean concentrationsexceeding the Recommended Malaysian Annual Guideline of 90 |xg nr3(annual mean of 24-hour measurements). In the industrial areas, five out ofnine stations monitored by the Department of Environment recorded meanvalues exceeding the Recommended Malaysian Annual Guideline. On thewhole in 1989, there was a slight increase in the annual mean concentrationof total suspended particulates (Department of Environment 1990: 42). Thestatus and trend of total suspended particulates concentration by area typeis given in Table 4.

table 4. Annual mean concentration of total suspendedparticulates by area type, 1985 - 1989 (mg/m3)A r e a 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989Traffic 1 5 4 128 99 107 132Indust r ia l 80 9 6 115 9 2 9 7Commerc ia l 190 - 152 7 6 9 0Resident ial 90 78 41 62 7 0Rura l

- - - 49 7 6Source: Department of Environment 1990

In 1991 the levels of total suspended particulates has increased up tothree times above thenormal levels due tothehaze episode reportedly causedby the forest fire in Indonesia. However, the annual mean of total suspendedparticulates in the traffic and industrial areas were higher compared tocommercial or residential areas (Department of Environment 1992). Duringthe haze in October 1991, the PM-10 readings were as high as 190 p.g nr3

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IssuesonEnvironmental Management 191in some places, otherwise the readings were low or marginal comparedto the recommended limit of the Guidelines for Malaysia (150 |xg nr3 for24 hours observation or 50 jug nr3 for one year observation).

Lead level in the air was high in 1981-1984 period, especially incommercial areas of major towns of Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown(Department ofEnvironment 1986). However, the situation has improvedespecially in the traffic and industrial areas. The level of lead in the trafficareas was 0.43 p,g nr3 in 1991 compared to 1.45 |xg nr3 in 1989 and 0.48ptg nr3 in 1990. In the industrial areas the level of lead was 0.09 xg nr3 in1991, whereas in 1989 and 1990 the levels recorded were 0.23 p.g nr3 and0.89 p,g m3, respectively (Department of Environment 1992).According to Sham(1986), the problem in relation to carbon monoxide,oxides of nitrogen and ozone is still not widespread in this country andonly concentrated in major urban centres. However, the problem is nowquite serious in certain places such as along some major roads in thecommercial districts of Kuala Lumpur.Records of monitoringfor dust fallout by the Departmentof Environmentin 1989 show high concentration in the industrial as well as commercialareas. Both these areas recorded levels exceeding 133 mg m2day(Recommended Malaysian Guideline for dustfallout). Although the levelsinresidential areas did not exceed the recommended figure, the values werevery close to it (Department of Environment 1990).Figure 1 shows the trend of emission of pollutants to the atmos phere byvarious sources between 1987 and 1991. It can be observed that the majorcontributor is the motor vehicles, while other sources combined generate lessthan 30 percent of pollutants emitted in 1991.

NOISE POLLUTIONNoise pollution is presently assuming importance asoneof ourenvironmentalproblems especially in residential areas, in the vicinity of schools andeducational institutions, and in urban commercial areas (Jamaluddin & Anuar1992). TheDepartment of Environment reported an increase in noise levelsin 1984in most of their sampling stations comparedto 1981 - 1982 period(Department ofEnvironment 1986: 12). Based onthe 1984/85 sampling dataof traffic noise in major urban areas and their surroundings in PeninsularMalaysia, only Kuantan and its surroundings recorded traffic noise levelbelow 65 dBA (Figure 2). Forother urban areas the levels exceeded 70 dBA,with thehighest levels recorded in Kuala Lumpur and followed by Prai andIpoh. None of the urban centres recorded noise levels below 65 dBA(recommended noise level standard for commercial areas).According to the Department of Environment, in terms of communitynoise, Penang and Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest levels where 10percent of the samples for Penang and Kuala Lumpur recorded noise levels

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Issues on Environmental Management 193

figure 2. Traffic Noise Levels of Selected Areas in Major Urban Areas ofPeninsular MalaysiaSource: Jamaluddin 1990

exceeding 76.0 dBA and 74.5 dBA, respectively. The levels are very highcompared to the 55 dBA recommended by the World Health Organization(WHO) for urban community.

Recent studies carried out in the vicinity of Seremban (Jamaluddin &Sham 1989a), Johore Bahru (Jamaluddin & Sham 1989b) and BandarBaru Bangi (Sham & Jamaluddin 1990) showed that on the average thenoise level values for residential areas are s ti ll below 55 dBA . However, thelevel was exceeded during daytime in the flats in all the three areasstudied, and the level was exceeded even at night at the flats in JohorBahru. The studies also show that the flats residential areas experiencehigher community noise levels compared to other types of residential

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areas. Aircraft noise is another source of noise pollution. In actual factaircraft noise should not pose any problem if there is no residential areasnearby, but most of the airports in Malaysia are built or found very close toresidential areas. The same situation exists for industrial noise pollution.

SOLID A N D H A Z A R DO U S W A S TE P OL LU T IO NSolid waste pollution is only a problem in areas where there are concentrationof population because these are the places where a lot of solid waste isgenerated. In short, solid waste is generally an urban problem. However,it only becomes a problem when it is related to the collection and disposalof the wastes because these works are still unsatisfactory in the urban areas.According to the Department of Environment (1986: 13), more than 76% ofthe municipal councils in Peninsular Malaysia still practise their unsystematictraditional ways of disposing the solid wastes and burning them openly. Thestandard of work has improved slightly in recent years when properdisposal procedures are carried out through sanitary landfill. However,sanitary landfills are only carried out by about 25% of the local authorities(Department of Environment 1988: 22).

One of the more pressing problems faced by the local authorities asregards the disposal of solid wastes is the disposal sites. To be economicaldisposal sites must be sited not too far away from the areas served at the samet ime the sites should not be too near residential areas. A suitable area is hardto come by, especially in a municipal council area where the land value ishigh and more beneficial for other uses. Presently most of the disposal sitesare nearing the end of their life span or have already exceeded it, and thusfresh sites m u s t be found.

As regards toxic and hazardous wastes, the situation is more pressing asuntil now there is not even a single disposal site available, while theincreasing number of factories keep churning up more and more toxic andhazardous wastes. Negotiation is still under way with various state governmentsas to the choice of suitable sites (Department of Environment 1989b).

ISSUES ON ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT THROUGHLEGISLATIVE MEASURES

There are a number of issues that can be i denti fi ed in relation to themanagement of the environment through legislative measures in Malaysia.Some of the issues are structural in nature, while others are related to eitherthe institutional arrangements, the legislations themselves as well as themanpower handling the legislations or enforcement. This section deals withthe major issues related to the management of the environment throughlegislative measures in Malaysia.

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Issues on Environmental Management 195P R OV IS IO N S I N T H E C O N S T I T U T I O N

The Department of Environment, being a federal agency in a federalsystem of government, actually do not have full control of the environment.In the Federal Constitution, there are quite a number of things which comeunder the purview of the state and local authorities. Matters relating to land,forest, water resources, local authority areas, fishery and agriculture are underthe jurisdiction of the state. As such there is an apparent conflict betweenthe State and Federal authorit ies regarding environmental matters (Sham1991).

In the case of environmental conservation, the Environmental QualityAct, 1974 and the Environmental Quality (Amendment) Act, 1985, wereenacted by the federal government, but the management of the basic resourcesas mentioned above still remains within the powers of the state. As suchsuccessful implementation of the Environmental Quality Act is very dependenton close cooperation between the federal and state authorities. Sometimessuch cooperation is very difficult to achieve especially when there is aconflict of interest between the two parties (Betterton 1982). In implementingthe Environmental Impact Assessment requirements, there have been caseswhere the state approved certain projects even when the mandatory EIAreports by the project proponents have been rejected by the Departmentof Environment. Another recent example is regarding the attempt by thefederal government to coordinate water supply management which at presentis under the control of the individual states. Hitherto, no agreement has beenr eached .

INADEQUACIES IN THE LEGISLATIONSMost of the environment related legislations are actually natural resourceslaws that are use-oriented , or des igned for the maximum exploitation anddevelopment of natural resources as compared to environmental legislationthat is resource-oriented , or designed for the rational management andconservation of natural resources in order to prevent their depletion anddegradation (Tolentino 1986). Thus, most of the .legislations formulatedbefore the Environmental Quality Act, 1974 (Malaysia 1974a) did notcon ta in c rit er ia and standards. Even those that contain s tanda rds such as theMining Rules (Federated Malay States, 1934), the standard was not up toexpectation for enforcement purposes as the miners could still pollute evenmor

The lack of or absence of criteria and standards regarding certaintype of pollution means that the enforcement officers do not have a referenceto rely on. This is very clear e.g. in the Local Government Act, 1976(Malaysia 1976b) and Street, Drainage and Buildings Act, 1974 (Malaysia1974b), whereby only qualitative references are made as regards anything

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considered as a nuisance . From one angle, the enforcement of legislationscontaining such provisions is deemed fitting in the sense that the enforcementofficers are well guarded by the ambiguity of the provisions, but qualitativereference such as mentioned cannot give a true picture as to whether theproblem is serious and exceeding a certain allowable level or not. In cases-like this the enforcement officers are actually exercising their own interpretationof the regulations (a matter of concern since a large number of enforcementofficers of the local authorities are insufficiently equipped to handle suchproblems).

As a measure of allowing certain activities to continue operating,environment related legislations do have provisions for the contravention ofregulations. In a number of cases, legislations made always contain provisionallowing certain minimum time period for full compliance and alsoprovision whereby project proponent can get written permission forcontravening certain stipulated regulations. This allowance is a good interimmeasure to a certain extent, for example at the start of acertain activity orat the beginning stage of the enforcement whereby the project proponentscan take preparatory measures to meet the requirements of the legislations.However, if longer period is allowed for contavention of the regulations, theproject proponents are bound to be more interested to contravene theregulations than to meet the requirements immediately. This is becausethe cost to obtain a permission to contravene certain regulations is cheaperthan to set up pollution control equipments.

One interesting point to note as regards this particular problem is thatit is quite ironical that on the one hand the authority concerned is supposedto carry out pollution prevention, but on the other hand permission is oftengranted to project proponents for contravention of regulations (see forexample Section 25 (1), Environmental Quality Act, 1974). Almost the sameprovision is found in a number of other regulations. Actually one pointas regard the provision of allowing for the contravention of regulations hasa rather uneasy implication in that at the same time public interest andpollution victims can be waived aside (Chee ,1981).These inadequacies in the legislations are generally recognized by thegovernment and in 1991 an ad hoc committee was established by theMinistry of Science, Technology and the Environment to look into allenvironment-related legislations that are currently in operation (especiallythe Environmental Quality Act) for the purpose of coordination andstreamlining. The law review effort would have been more meaningfulif the local authorities (with their governing legislations of the LocalGovernment Act, 1976 and Street, Drainage and Building Act, 1974)were incorporated in the review process.

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Issues on Environmental Management 197I N ST I TU T IO N A L A R R A N G EM E N T S

Environmental legislations and environmental administration reinforce eachother, and in the process become practically more effective. However,Malaysia still has to evolve an environmental jurisprudence. Very fewlawyers in this country have been trained in modem legal mechanisms forregulating environmental quality with the result that the quality ofenvironmental management continues to suffer (Jamaluddin 1991).

Successful enforcement of the Environmental Quality Act and otherenvironment related legislations and the implementation of environmentalpolicies can be realized only if there is full cooperation between the Federaland State governments. There are a number of institutions responsible forcertain environmental related problems and there are also overlaps in theenvironmental related legislations.In cases where there is overlap in government agencies in charge of acertain environment related problems there is always the issue of who ismore responsible to overcome such problems. There are certain agenciesgiven power under certain legislations to take actions but not doing so.Most of the times these institutions are of the opinion that the Departmentof Environment is solely responsible for managing all aspects of theenvironment. However, the fact is that there are also a number of areaswhere the Department of Environment can only act as advisers andcoordinators. Attempts at overcoming the problem initiated by the Departmentof Environment by coordinating environment-related works under thejurisdiction of the state and local authoritieshave resulted in the formation ofa committee consistingof ministersand state legislativemembers responsiblefor t he envi ronmen t . I f the format ion o f s uc h c omm itt ee is to b e taken asan indication of better things to come for the environment in general,it should be lauded and the Department of Environment should be praisedfor such effort for bridging the gap between the federal government and thestate authorities in managing the environment. Furthermore, the establishmentof ten regionaloffices currently practised by the Department ofEnvironmentis a good move as it provides a meaningful link between the federal and stateagencies. However, there are also other types of inadequacies that have tobe corrected before a full-fledged efficient environmental managementactivities is to be realized.

E N F O R C E M E N T

Since most of the environmental related legislations made are meant to beunder the charge of certain institution, there exist too many institutions orgovernment agencies which are directly or indirectly involved in themanagement of the environment. This in turn touches on the ability ofthe government agencies in carrying out the provisions relevant to theenvironment as contained in the legislations. Obviously only the Department

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of Environment and the local authorities and district offices are equippedwith enforcement officers. If it is observed further, only the Departmentof Environment is really concerned with enforcing the laws on environment,whi le the local authorities and the district offices, where there is a lo t ofpower made available by their rul ing legislations, are too involved in otherjobs and only capable of handling a small part of the environment relatedproblems, albeit indirectly.

The Department of Environment, although having a number of regionaloffices, is still lacking in enforcement officers. The lack of personnel andmanpower is faced not only by the Department of Environment, but alsoother government agencies and local authorities that are charged with themanagement and enhancement of the environment. This matter is perhapsrelated to insufficient funding made by the federal government and theadministrator's inability to appreciate the importance of having a cleanenvironment to live in. However, there is actually a provision in theEnvironmental Quality Act, 1974, which allows the Director-General of theEnvironment to appoint certain other government officers to help enforce thelaws, this has not been done. In fact, the power is not even given to allDepartment of Environment s officers.

The problem of the lack of manpower in the enforcement section andthe gruelling conditions that have to be followed such as the preparationof a report before any action could be taken on polluters, render enforcementnot very effective. Such inefficiency could certainly wear down publicsupport and trust in government agencies, something which any environmentalrelated agencies should take very seriously. Furthermore, surveillancework is mostly carried out during office hours, but the discharge of effluentsinto rivers by some industries is done at night. Again, there should be someflexibility in the agency's enforcement machinery to allow the officers towork even at night, maybe on shifts basis - something which is verydependant on approval of the treasury and the public services department.At the local authorities and district off ice level th e situation is moreserious because what with the limited number of enforcement officers, mostof them are not trained for environmental enforcement jobs. At leastin the Hulu Langat District Council (Jamaluddin 1991), there is not evenone enforcement officer who is trained in the field of environment, and mostof them do not even know the provisions in the relevant legislations.Therefore, any enforcement work carried out by these enforcement officersas regard problems related to the environment is mostly coincidental,perhaps a justification for their very existence as enforcement officers Ifsuch a situation persists there is certainly no guarantee that the quality of theenvironment will improve.

Figure 3 shows the enforcement efforts by the Department of Environmentand the Road Transport Department working together with the police in

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