Wastewater Management in Asia

Malaysia, despite being blessed with ample water resources shares similar water management problems and challenges faced by the rest of the world and in particular the Asia Pacific countries arising largely from the impacts of our rapid development.

Our waters at its source is crystal clear and clean but as it passed through settlements, waste water from agriculture and urban activities join the natural system, the rivers, through all the drainage outlets. Managing these challenges is an uphill task especially for our Department of Environment, which is responsible for monitoring and enforcing the required standards through the Environmental Quality Act, 1974.

The 10th Malaysia Plan is aimed at addressing new challenges facing the country and is premised on high income, inclusiveness and sustainability. The Plan provides the policy framework and strategies to transform the country into a high-income economy and developed nation by the year 2020.

In providing efficient public utilities and services in the water sector, the 10th Malaysia Plan emphasises improvements and enhancement to the quality of service and coverage to ensure sustainability from both an operational as well as environment perspective. Under the Plan, Malaysia’s strategy for ensuring sustainable water supply will have two main areas of focus:

Firstly, in developing a long-term strategy for water resource management to achieve water security. The National Water Resources Policy (NWRP), currently being formulated by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, will chart the future course for the water sector. In considering Malaysia’s long term supply-demand profile, the policy will outline measures to ensure efficient and effective management of this increasingly scarce resource, including streamlining policies and legislations to allow for more efficient and equitable distribution of water resources. Other measures to be implemented during the Plan period include expanding the implementation of the Integrated Water Resources Management and Integrated River Basin Management approaches in planning, managing, protecting and rehabilitating water resources. In addition, research and development efforts will be intensified in area of conservation of water resources to support efforts to develop a sustainable water sector for the national economy.

8. Secondly in protecting rivers from pollution. More than 90% of Malaysia’s water supply comes from rivers and streams. Thus, efforts to tackle river pollution have always been, and will continue to be given due emphasis. River pollution is due largely to an increase in the number of sources of pollution and a decrease in the amount of rainfall. Major sources of pollution include improper discharge from sewerage treatment plants, agro-based factories, livestock farming, land clearing activities and domestic sewage. During the 10th Plan period, some of the measures to be undertaken by the Ministry to improve pollution control targeting these sources include:

 a. Strengthening the enforcement on industrial effluents and sewage discharge in line with the revisions to the regulations under the Environmental Quality Act 1974;

b. Assessing the Total Maximum Daily Load and carrying capacity of rivers to determine allowable discharge loads, for both point and non-point sources of pollution;

 c. Revising the current Water Quality Index to incorporate additional parameters, such as biological parameters, for more accurate river water classification;

 d. Developing the National Marine Water Quality Index to replace the current Marine Water Quality Criteria and Standard, which was developed in 2008; and

 e. Expanding outreach and awareness programmes targeting various segments of society,

From the address of HE Dr Noeleen Heyzer, we noted that the impact of climate extremes in climate change will exacerbate the challenges of a polluted environment, spreading wide the polluted waters during floods and become more concentrated in the limiting resources during droughts. Due to its climate and location, Malaysia is among the many economies that are likely to feel the force of climate events sooner, rather than later – in the form of coastal and inland flooding, rise in vector borne diseases, or decline in agricultural yields due to continuous occurrence of droughts.

To address the climate change issue, the Government of Malaysia has formed the Green Technology and Climate Change Council which is chaired by the Prime Minister to formulate policies and measures on climate change. We have also formulated a National Policy on Climate Change. This policy contains 5 principles, 10 strategic thrusts and 43 key actions with a focus on mitigation and adaptation measures as well as capacity building. We also in the process of finalising our 2nd National Communication (NC2) report to UNFCCC. Leading to these initiatives, the country has embarked on concurrent related studies and research.

For example, the National Hydraulics Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM) has completed the study on Climate Change projection at 9km grid for Peninsula Malaysia while the study for two other states, Sabah and Sarawak will be completed by the end of this year. This projection allows us to understand the temporal and spatial climate changes at the local scale that is, at the scale of river basins. It also enables us to carry out impact assessments of future streamflow extremes on not only floods and water supply but also river water quality, which is already burdened with polluting discharges from various human activities.

The focus during the upcoming 10th Malaysia Plan period would be to further operationalise the plans and policies related to climate change. Malaysia will adopt a dual strategy in addressing climate change impacts: firstly, adaptation strategies to protect economic growth and development factors from the impact of climate change; and secondly, mitigation strategies to reduce emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Among the measures to be taken are:

-Developing a robust risk framework to assess and quantify the climate risk faced by the economy and prioritise measures to address those risks;

-Implementing policy decision frameworks to ensure that future infrastructure investments are climate resilient; and

-Enhancing capacity in the field of climate prediction and modelling to develop stronger Malaysia-specific and sector-specific knowledge.

Apart from that, the Government has embarked on several programmes aimed at reducing emission of GHGs. During the Plan period, these efforts will continue to focus on five areas:
-Creating stronger incentives for investments in renewable energy (RE);
-Promoting energy efficiency to encourage productive use of energy;
-Improving solid waste management;
-Conserving forests; and
-Reducing emissions to improve air quality.

We look forward to the outcome of this dialogue in supporting our efforts and the efforts of the countries in the region to manage these huge challenges. Issues of water pollution can be insidious and are potential to trigger pandemic calamities, such as we have seen in the avian flu a few years back. Certainly polluted water will not provide a healthy living environment. Therefore, I am confident the outcome of this Dialogue will assist us in ensuring that our waters and environment can remain pristine. We also urge international organisations and donor agencies and countries to assist the underdeveloped and least developed UN member countries to face these challenges.

We would also like to thank ESCAP for choosing Malaysia as part of the implementation of the project on “Eco-efficient Water Infrastructure” in Integrated Water Resources Management of Labuan Island and the development of the “Guidelines for Eco-efficiency in Water Infrastructure for Buildings” in Malaysia. We hope to take full advantage of the outcome of these studies and the exposure it brings.

Thank you.