SM Mohamed Idris

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) are disappointed with the Penang State Planning Committee (SPC) chaired by the chief minister for approving conversion of hill reserve land to residential zones. In addition to this the state has also announced several other massive projects. We view that the state is not respecting the sanctity of the hills and other natural resources in Penang by pushing for colossal development on the island.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) urges the Pahang government to take prompt action to protect the natural environment of Janda Baik near Bentong so as not to continue to be threatened by any form of activity in the area.

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) urges the Penang state government to take immediate action to solve the pig waste pollution problem faced by villagers of Kampung Titi Hitam near Sungai Bakap in the Seberang Perai Selatan District.

First it was the pygmy elephants, then recently  the shocking deaths of the 19 green turtles. Prior to the current dead number, another 50 rotting turtles were discovered last year.

Israeli Apartheid Week International Network will be organising a number of events in the first week of March to raise the consciousness of the Malaysian public about the apartheid system practiced by Israel in Palestine and to take action to put an end to the Zionist occupation of Palestine.

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) urges the Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Ministry to investigate and take prompt action to resolve the problem of 2,000 coastal fishers in Kerian district, Perak whose livelihood has been affected due to the implementation of aquaculture projects in the area.

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) commends the health authorities for taking a bold move in closing down dirty restaurants in the state.

People are in uproar over the fact that even though the prices of petrol and diesel have decreased, the prices of goods, on the other hand, have not.

We at the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) can sympathise; after all we are also consumers and the cost of living has been steadily increasing.

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) would like to register our strong opposition to the growing of genetically modified (GM) rubber trees in Malaysia.

At the recent public forum organised by the Bar Council’s Environment and Climate Change Committee (ECCC) in Kuala Lumpur, the public got a glimpse of the idea of public consultation of the proponents of nuclear power plant in Malaysia.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia decries the man-made reasons for recent flood.

The country is still reeling from the after-effects of the devastating year-end floods that ravaged at least seven states.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) urge the government to immediately ban the use of trawl nets in order to save our fisheries resources from impending extinction.

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) cautions consumers from consuming food cooked using plastic ladles and spoons or hot food stored in plastic containers. From a public health perspective, heated plastic is an unnecessary source of exposure to harmful elements and stringent measures must be taken to prevent it.

The inescapable fact is that fuel subsidy will eventually have to be scrapped as it is economically untenable in the long run. The question is when? Our answer is now is the right time as the crude oil price is tumbling.

Recently, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) attended a meeting with Indah Water Consortium (IWK) and the National Water Service Commission (Span), where IWK announced its plans to change the current tariff system from the standard monthly rate to a system based on water consumption instead, which will incidentally increase the IWK bills for many consumers. They plan to implement this change sometime in January 2015.

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) refers to a media report regarding the ongoing Allianze University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS) issue. CAP has been dealing with this matter ever since we received complaints from various staff members and students of AUCMS, beginning earlier this year.

A new paper by a senior economist working in a United Nations agency has shown that Malaysia will not enjoy a net gain in terms of its trade balance as a result of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). Instead, Malaysia will suffer a decline in its trade balance with the other 11 TPPA countries by nearly RM5 billion.

Thousands of oil palm smallholders in Sarawak are severely impacted by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s (MPOB) directive prohibiting traders from purchasing fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) of ‘suspicious’ origins. The directive came into effect since 1 July, 2014.

The issue of the Latin American gang that hacked into some of Malaysia’s automated teller machines (ATMs) and absconded with a little over RM3 million is both frightening and eye-opening. It should be an indication to us that our cyber-security is grossly lacking and perhaps our money and personal information are not as safe as we once thought them to be.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia’s (SAM) field staff had stumbled upon a huge pile of seized logs at the logpond of Sungai Pelutan in Middle Baram, Sarawak recently.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is aghast at the government’s decision to go ahead with the sturgeon fish farm even though a detailed impact assessment (DEIA) is still pending.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) deplores the decision of the Pahang state government to permit forest conversion activities to take place within the Lesong Permanent Reserved Forest (PRF) in Kuala Rompin.