Tuesday August 4, 2009
By YENG AI CHUN
This video was taken from: You Tube
KUALA LUMPUR: Dams could be built in peat forests to help reduce the number of hotspots which cause haze in the country, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas.
Uggah who is scheduled to attend the Asean sub-regional Ministerial Meeting on Transboundary Haze Pollution in Riau province over the weekend, said he would look into building "check dams" in the area.
He said check dams could help reduce peat fires by half as they manage water levels in the peatland.
"We have noticed from observation that almost 70% of the hotspots are in peat areas. If we can have the system to control the water level, we could reduce the hotspots and hopefully reduce the haze also," he told a press conference yesterday after launching the 14th International Rainwater Catchment Systems Conference 2009 at the Putra World Trade Centre.
Uggah said majority of the hotspots were in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Borneo, with Sumatra topping the list with 318 hotspots as of Sunday.
There were 215 hotspots in Kalimantan, two in Sabah, three in peninsular Malaysia and 22 in Sarawak.
"The figures in Sabah and Sarawak are still tolerable. We have tightened enforcement and have been working with other agencies such as the Drainage and Irrigation Department, Forestry Department and the Mineral and GeoScience Department," Embas said.
On another matter, Embas said the ministry would implement an experimental project on rainwater catchment system in a longhouse and a kampung in Sarawak to help provide constant water supply during the dry season and to mitigate floods during the wet season.
"The study on the area was completed last year and we will be implementing the project this year," he said.
Uggah also urged the public and private sector to set up their own rainwater catchment systems in their premises to conserve water.
This article was taken from: The Star Online: Nation 4 August 2009
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