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Pahang DOE issues 53 compound notices for open burningFriday September 15, 2006
Pahang DOE issues 53 compound notices for open burning
KUANTAN: The Pahang state Department of Environment (DOE) has issued 53 compound notices since January to companies and individuals found to have conducted open burning.
The department’s deputy director (1) Mokhtar Abdul Majid said 30 offences were at estates, 17 at construction sites, two at industrial areas, and one at an illegal waste dump. Another three were bushfires.
The compounds amounted to RM86,700.
“We found that most open burning activities in estates were carried out in Pekan when companies or individuals wanted to clear the land for planting activities.’’
"The state department managed to trace these activities through our headquarters which detected the hot spots via satellite,” he told reporters during an environmental exhibition at Kuantan Parade here.
On vehicles found to have emitted excessive black smoke, Mokhtar said 36 compounds were issued in the first eight months of this year.
He also said the DOE would release its annual air quality report at the end of the month.
On the exhibition, Mokhtar said it was part of a nationwide roadshow to create public awareness on air quality.
The exhibition was one of the activities of the Malaysian-German Technical Cooperation (GTC) that included a four-year study aimed at finding ways to improve air quality.
“The study has been completed and one of the proposals is for the local authorities to plan a bicycle lane in towns for residents to go to work or run errands on the bicycle as an alternative to using public transportation.
“It will help to reduce the effects of air pollution,” Mohktar said.
Mokhtar also said Pahang had three air monitoring stations - Indera Mahkota and Balok Baru in Kuantan and Batu Embun in Jerantut.
The Balok Baru station was set up to monitor chemical and petrochemical activities in the Gebeng industria area, he added.
To date, the companies giving problems to the DOE were mostly small and medium industries and workshop operators, he said.
“We are aware that they do not have the kind of allocation set aside by the bigger companies, but that does not justify their action of dumping wastes into the drain. They can store the wastes and have licensed contractors collect them for proper disposal,” Mokhtar added.
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