Tag Archives: Pollution

Blog 2024

Protecting Selangor’s Rivers and Water

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Recording a show on Selangor rivers at BFM89.9. From left: Kennedy Michael, Law Yao Hua, and Chen Yih Wen.
Recording a show on Selangor rivers at BFM89.9. From left: Kennedy Michael, Law Yao Hua, and Chen Yih Wen. Credit: Juliet Jacobs.

11 Dec 2024: In this Earth Matters segment on BFM89.9FM Radio, we discuss the links between Selangor’s costly water cuts and the  health of its rivers. The state government’s aims to protect all its river banks as reserves — could that work?

The show featured journalists Chen Yih Wen and Law Yao Hua, and Kennedy Michael, co-founder of Alliance of River Three (ART!). Produced by Juliet Jacobs on ‘Earth Matters’, 89.9FM Radio.

Based on our story Banking on River Reserves to Protect Water Supply.

[The story is supported by a grant from YELL.]

Insight

Banking on River Reserves to Protect Water Supply

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Selangor wants to secure its water supply with more river reserves. But will the law have teeth? And what about protecting the forests that feed the rivers?

SELANGOR residents are no strangers to frequent water cuts. They have suffered water cuts due to river pollution every year in the last decade except for 2017 and 2018, according to news reports.

Pollution in the raw water intake, particularly from illegal dumping and industrial discharge into rivers, has forced Air Selangor to shut down key treatment plants. Such disruptions severely impact the water supply for residents across Klang Valley and surrounding regions.

(Feature image: Volunteers doing their best to keep a riverbank clean in Taman Melawati, Selangor. River pollution has caused major and costly water cuts in the state. |  Photo by Chen Yih Wen)

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Insight

What Way If Not the PJD Highway?

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While many Petaling Jaya residents don’t want an elevated highway through their community, they are still keen to drive. This is Part 2; read Part 1 for an interactive trip along the PJD highway.

TRAFFIC jams are a painful part of life in the Klang Valley. The Malaysian way to ease traffic, however, appears to focus largely on mega infrastructure: huge, tolled highways that cost hundreds of millions of ringgit to build.

In 2022 alone, two elevated highways were completed: the Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Highway (DASH) and the first phase of the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Highway (SUKE). 

And the government is evaluating the proposal of yet another elevated highway: the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link Expressway (PJD). However, unlike the earlier highways, the PJD would pass through some of the most crowded residential and commercial areas in Petaling Jaya.

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In-Depth

Tiga Cerita Tentang Tanah dan Air

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Tiga Cerita Tentang Tanah dan air

TANAH AIR, gelaran bumi pertiwi dalam Bahasa Melayu, terdiri daripada perkataan ‘tanah’ dan ‘air’, masing-masing melambangkan tempat asal dan sumber. Tanah dan air menyumbang kepada kesinambungan manusia.

Di tanah air pula, kita saling bertaut dengan pelbagai cara: sebagai negara dan warganegara, melalui wadah nyata dan bayangan, dan di himpunan kolektif serta perkongsian dari individu ke individu.

Namun, hakikatnya kekal bahawa tanah dan air ditadbir oleh pihak berkuasa negara. Di kala bencana, ribut badai dan perubahan, adakah sistem tadbir urus kita cukup teguh?

Setiap keputusan yang diambil mengedepankan kepentingan siapa? Apa ciri yang berfungsi, dan apa pula yang menggagalkan?

Di 3 kisah yang dikongsi, Projek Khas ini meneliti bagaimana sistem tadbir urus di Malaysia meninggalkan impak ke atas manusia dan alam sekitar, selain isu dan tindakan yang berkenaan. Semua kisah berakhir dengan pertanyaan: adakah penyelesaian yang digunapakai berkesan?

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In-Depth

土地与水，故事三则

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土地与水，故事三则

TANAH AIR，在马来语中是指祖国，字面意思是 “土地 “和 “水”。我们在很多方面——作为一个国家和公民；通过实际和想象；集体和个人——都与这两者有联系。

但现实是，tanah 和 air 都由国家管理的。在这个充满灾难、动荡和变化的时代，我们的治理是否足够好？决策是为了谁的利益？哪些是有效的，哪些是无效的？

这个特别项目通过3个报道探讨了马来西亚的治理是如何影响人类和自然的，以及相关的担忧和行动。最终，我们要问：我们的解决方案是真实的吗？

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In-Depth

Three Stories on Land and Water

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Three Stories on Land and Water

TANAH AIR, the word for homeland in Malay, literally means ‘land’ and ‘water’. We are bound to both in so many ways: as a nation and citizens, through the actual and imaginative, the collective and the personal.

But the reality is, tanah and air are governed by states. In these times of calamities, turbulence and change, is our governance good enough? Whose interests do decisions serve? What is working, what, not?

In 3 stories, this Special Project looks at how governance in Malaysia is impacting humans and nature, as well as the related concerns and actions. Ultimately, we ask: are our solutions real?

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