Seriously, how pathetic can we get?

At our southern peninsula border, there is an island state called Singapore. At one time we sold our raw water to them, water which would have flowed into Johor Straits if Singapore was not there to buy it.

Then the situation began to change. They depended less and less on our raw water. They introduced NEWater, desalination and built more catchments and reservoirs to be self-sufficient. You can read the Singapore water story at various websites; just Google it.

Today, the situation is reversed. They are not only self-sufficient; they are now supplying potable water to Johor more than what was mandated in the agreement between the two countries.

At one time Singapore was there to buy our raw water, now they are there to supply us potable water. My question is what would happen to us today if Singapore is not there in the first place. Where are we going to get the water from, Malacca and Pahang?

Water is the source of life. How serious are we to protect our source of life?

To me it is useless for the authorities to tell us that it was pollution from the palm oil mills that caused the water supply disruption to 120,000 consumers. It is also a little too late in the day to sue the culprits.

The issue is our water management. How serious are we concerned with our catchment areas, riverine, and anti-pollution monitoring and enforcement efforts?

Today the pollution is due to palm oil mills. What about tomorrow, could the pollution be originated from pigsties? For pollution, we don’t wait for it to happen and then take action. We prevent it from happening. Similarly, we may sue and punish the polluters, but by then usually irreparable damage has been perpetrated.

What we need is constant monitoring and enforcement. We need clear guidelines when approving projects that are near to our water catchments and rivers. Factory owners will inevitably find a cheapest way to get rid of their effluents. It is the job of the authorities to make the violators pay.

In this instance, I think the public has the right to know why pollution from palm oil mills was allowed to occur without being detected earlier. Were the monitoring and enforcement agencies incompetent, sleeping or corrupted?

We must be strict with polluters; we must be stricter with the enforcers, too.