The Costs Of Construction Projects Goes Up… Will The Environment End Up Paying The Price? The reduction of petrol and diesel subsidies from 4 June 2008 sent shockwaves through all Malaysians and signaled a potential price hike for all goods in Malaysia. The construction industry is not spared and will be one of the first sectors to be hit hard by the rising costs. Click for more... The industry players are holding their collective breaths as the price of building materials have increased some 30% and threaten to spiral out of control. Already, price quotations from some material suppliers are only valid for one day as prices become more fluid. So what becomes of environmental protection during construction? The greening of the Malaysian construction industry has begun to blossom in recent years, where stricter authority enforcement and greater awareness have been major catalysts. In recent years, environmental protection works for some projects were as high as 3% of the total project cost, an advancement from 10 years ago, when it was less than 1%. Now this positive trend may be checked due to the sudden rise in construction costs. Funds for environmental protection may be diverted to other construction activities to ensure the survival of the projects. It is important for project proponents and contractors alike to resist and reject this option. While it may be seen as a viable option in the short term, this move will eventually lead to the degradation of the environment in general; such as, cutbacks on soil erosion protection measure will lead far greater cleanup costs later. Although a reduction in the budget for environmental protection is inevitable, it is important to note that the resulting half-hearted measures put in place for the various pollution control measures would not effectively minimize pollution at all. It would be better to allocate the limited resources to fully implementing the more critical environmental measures, and to an extent to reduce or even forgo mitigating impacts which are deemed not significant. For instance, for a project where soil erosion and sedimentation is the main environmental issue, then the implementation of temporary erosion control measures, silt trap construction and maintenance should not be compromised, but measures such as the operation of water browsers or wheel washing may be forgone if there are no sensitive receptors nearby although there is significant amounts of dust generated. In short, a sensible review of the environmental management is necessary to ensure that the limited budget is best spent on the more critical aspects of environmental protection. It is essential that the various parties in the construction industry realize that we have made significant progress in greening the construction industry, and to keep up the effort while at the same time to see out the present crisis in escalating construction costs without due harm to the environment. Energy: Non-Renewable and Renewable The rising demand for oil in growing economies and the continued high consumption in developed nations have stressed the global supply of oil. Soaring crude oil prices have raised fears global economic instability.Click for more... Our modern economy's dependence on oil is indeed an Achilles heel. Oil, as a fossil fuel, is a non-renewable resource. The proven reserves are limited and continuously depleted. New reserves and potential oil fields are constantly being explored, but this does not change the fact that oil will not last forever. World oil production is anticipated to peak before the year 2020 and then decline. Gas reserves are expected to last a little longer. The use of oil causes pollution from the time of exploration to extraction and processing, to the transport and consumption. Combustion of fossil fuels results in emissions of carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, and hydrocarbons, which cause smog and air pollution. A potential long-term solution to our dependence on oil is the untapped resources of renewable energy, i.e. from sources that are naturally and continually replenished. Renewable energy such as biofuels, bio-diesel, palm oil derived fuels, biomass, hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal and wave power are waiting to be harnessed. Already, in some rural areas of Malaysia, solar and mini-hydropower schemes are providing people with a reliable and clean source of electricity. Development of alternative renewable energy sources will take time. Therefore efforts to develop renewable energy should begin now. The government and the private sector should invest in the alternative energy sources of the future, in anticipation of the scarcity and rising cost of fossil fuels. In Malaysia, biofuels and biomass hold much promise, in view of the resources of the vast palm oil industry. In the meantime, ordinary citizens can also play a part in practicing energy conservation to reduce total energy consumption and dependence on fossil fuels. We also need to actively use and encourage the development of renewable energy. Perhaps walking and cycling are the most practical ways of using another form of renewable energy, from our own bodies. "Orang Berbudi Kita Berbahasa, Alam Semulajadi Memberi Jangan Kita Binasakan" -Respecting Our Environment Recently, news on environment has been getting a lot of media coverage, from mundane activity of trimming of trees along Jalan Kewajipan in Subang Jaya to a more serious issue such as the U10 development, Sepang Gold Coast Development, toxic or scheduled wastes disposal and logging near the Temenggor Dam. Click for more... Whenever there is a problem to the environment, whether arising from lack of planning or total disregard of the legislation and regulation, Department of Environment will be called upon. Needless to say, Department of Environment (DOE) had quite a trying time. Prior to this, a lot of people are not aware of the existence of such department. That triggers a question - Is environmental protection and conservation the responsibility of one department? Firstly, we have to understand the role and responsibility of Department of Environment that is governed by Environmental Quality Act 1974. DOE cannot issue stop work order to a development, such as housing or mixed development. This has to come from the local authority. DOE can merely fine them if they flout any of the regulations. Environmental protection and conservation should be the responsibility of every department from Town & Country Planning Department, Drainage and Irrigation Department, Mineral & Geoscience Department, Forestry Department, Wildlife Department including other agencies that are considered irrelevant such as Evaluation Department, Education Department and Treasury. There is a critical need to increase environmental awareness within the various government agencies. Of all the agencies mentioned earlier, the local authorities, being the implementing agency on the ground play a crucial role in safeguarding our environment. Priority should be given to the local authorities in terms of environmental awareness and education. Government should embark on nationwide campaign on environmental awareness for all the government officers at all levels, similar to the "Berbudi Bahasa" campaign by Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage. By the way, shouldn't we also "berbudi bahasa" or respect our environment. With that, I want to leave the readers, an excerpt taken from an interview between a News Straits Times journalist and Dr Arun Gandhi (the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of MK Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence), which is simple yet inspiring. It is a story between Dr Arun and his grandfather, about a short pencil, that Dr Arun threw away, of which the grandfather says, "Now, I want you to sit here and learn two very important lessons … the first lesson is that even in the making of a simple thing like a pencil, we use a lot of the world's natural resources and when we throw them away, we are throwing away the world's natural resources and that is violence against nature".