Masidi denies no action taken on palm oil firms

DAILY EXPRESS NEWS East Malaysia

Masidi denies no action taken on palm oil firms

Kota Kinabalu: Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun regretted the "sweeping statement" by Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin that the State Government had failed to take concrete action against palm oil refineries in the Kinabatangan area.

According to Masidi, Bung Mokhtar had failed to notice that the Government had taken positive measures to reduce pollution in the Kinabatangan river.

He said inspections were carried on refineries along the Kinabatangan River, claiming that Bung Mokhtar failed to make his presence felt, despite being invited.

He pointed out that the Department of Environment (DOE) had issued 52 summonses and 35 directives to the palm oil refineries in the Kinabatangan area on the proper disposal of their affluent wastes, between 2006 and 2007.

Masidi said this in a statement, Wednesday, responding to a recent report in a national daily in which Bung Mokhtar claimed that the State Government had failed to address the problem of indiscriminate disposal of affluent wastes by palm oil mills along the Kinabatangan River.

In late October, this year, the DOE revoked the licence of a public-listed company in the Kinabatangan area for failing to improve the management and proper disposal of affluent wastes, he said.

In addition, legal action was also instituted against some refineries in Sabah, he added.
However, he pointed out that the National Water Quality Index (Ikan), in 2006, showed that the water quality of the Kinabatangan River was still under Category 2, classified as "clean".

Masidi assured that his Ministry was prepared to provide the necessary briefing on the actions taken and effective enforcement in environmental protection, based on the feedback by the DOE and Environmental Protection Department, before anyone could hurl baseless and inaccurate allegations.

He also disclosed that the DOE would be carrying out studies on rehabilitation prospects of the Kinabatangan River through an allocation of RM2 million, under the 9th Malaysia Plan, early next year.

The studies are aimed at providing the necessary strategies and action plans towards improving the water quality of the Kinabatangan River.