Just recently I read in the news that Johor is buying water from Singapore. I find it funny because I thought Malaysia was the one that should be selling water to Singapore. By reading up a little more, it turned out that the issue was caused by river pollution by an oil palm mill, and it forced water treatment plants in the area to close.

Being in the same region, the amount of average rainfall we get is similar, but with a bigger land area we should be able to ‘catch’ more rain. The major rivers are also in Malaysia, which is why I am puzzled as to why we were pushed to take such an action.

If we think about it the answer is pretty simple - inefficient management of water resources and infrastructure. Even though we have environmental laws in Malaysia, pollution is still rampant. The Johor pollution case was simply one that received more media attention due to the water disruption issue. What about those cases that don’t get so much media attention?

Statistics from the Department of Environment tell us that the percentage of clean rivers in Malaysia dropped by a whole 10 percent from year 2011 to 2014, showing us how serious the rate of pollution has become. All the law and regulations do not seem to be working. It is only when a problem such as this large scale water disruption occurs do we hear about polluters being punished. Almost as if those who pollute at a smaller scale are free of guilt.

We must also take note that pollution is not only caused by factories and agriculture. Recently, it was revealed that an average of 2,200 tonnes of rubbish is caught in our river traps every month. This may caused by some people throwing rubbish into the river directly, or the less know reason of throwing rubbish on the road or into the drains. This means that the things that we throw or pour in our drains eventually end up in the river!

Even if we are lucky to live in a country with enough rainfall, we face water supply problems due to our own negligence.

Nevertheless, I appreciate Singapore’s help to provide us with this basic human right when we need it. I hope that this good relationship between our countries can be maintained. However, I do wish that the Malaysian authorities treat this issue as a wake-up call and make the necessary improvements. Rather than waiting for the problem to happen before taking action, why not put more effort into preventing it?

NAH KOK WAI is research and policy executive, Forum Air Malaysia.