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PASIR GUDANG : The Department of Environment (DOE) in Johor has initiated investigation on at least 38 industrial factories operating in Pasir Gudang, for non-compliance and flouting the department’s laws, following the recent toxic fume pollution here.State Health, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar said action taken included the issuing of compounds to 37 factory operators who had failed to adhere to the department’s procedures under the Environmental Quality Act 1974.“Of the total, 27 compounds were issued for unscheduled waste disposal, 10 were for industrial effluents and three notices to stop work and notice of demand, each were also issued to six of them.“This is part of our enforcement to crackdown on factories which did not comply with the existing act,” he said.

Khuzzan said the air quality and pollution index reading at the affected site showed no signs of pollution.“Air quality reading in the Pasir Gudang area is at a good level,” he said, adding police would also continue to step up security and conduct road checks while DOE carried out enforcement against errant factory owners.He also confirmed that 100 tonnes of chemical waste had been shipped out of the site for proper disposal.

 

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REFERRING to the report “Jomo: Lack of political commitment for RE (renewable energy) agenda in Malaysia” (TheStarOnline, June 25, there is actually no issue of political will by the Pakatan Harapan government in setting the right tone via policies to promote the uptake of renewable energy.The government is committed to fulfilling its promise in the Pakatan manifesto to increase the installed capacity of renewable energy (excluding large hydro schemes) from 2% in 2018 to 20% by the year 2025. It must be noted that this target is significantly higher than the one set by the previous administration (13% by 2030).

In October 2018, Energy, Science, Technology, Envi­ronment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin announced the new Net Energy Metering on a one-to-one basis, making the proposition of installing rooftop solar far more financially attractive. This is arguably the most progressive solar policy in South-East Asia.Liberalising the electricity supply industry was the right decision for solar energy companies to not only supply and install solar panels but also to just sell solar energy directly to the consumer. This enables commercial and industrial premises to avoid the heavy capex of buying the solar system and instead enjoy green renewable energy with zero upfront cost.

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PUTRAJAYA: Kerajaan sedang merangka Indeks Kos Sara Hidup sebagai pelengkap kepada Indeks Harga Pengguna (IHP), kata Menteri Kewangan, Lim Guan Eng.Beliau berkata, indeks baharu itu akan menentukan minimum kos sara hidup yang diperlukan bagi seorang individu."Ia (Indeks Kos Sara Hidup) juga akan membantu kerajaan membuat dasar yang lebih tepat dalam menangani kos sara hidup yang dihadapi rakyat," katanya pada Konsultasi Belanjawan 2020 di sini hari ini.Hadir sama, Timbalan Menteri Kewangan, Datuk Ir Amiruddin Hamzah dan Ketua Setiausaha Perbendaharaan, Datuk Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir.Guan Eng berkata, kerajaan juga menangani kos sara hidup dengan mengekang tingkah laku monopoli."Kerajaan aktif dalam menguruskan tekanan kos sara hidup yang dihadapi rakyat.

"Kadar inflasi bagi Mac, April dan Mei 2019 adalah rendah dan stabil 0.2 peratus, sekali gus membuktikan kejayaan kerajaan dalam memeriksa tekanan harga," katanya.Selain itu, Guan Eng berkata, kerajaan juga sedang menilai dan merangka pelan baharu bagi 500,000 golongan muda Malaysia mendapatkan pekerjaan menerusi pelbagai program.Beliau berkata, ia inisiatif penting sejak kadar pengangguran belia meningkat kepada 10.9 peratus pada 2018 berbanding 9.9 peratus pada 2011."Kadar itu lebih tinggi berbanding kadar pengangguran kebangsaan 3.4 peratus," katanya.Majlis Konsultasi dengan tema Kemakmuran Bersama: Menjana Pertumbuhan Inklusif yang Mampan ke Arah Ekonomi Berpendapatan Tinggi itu adalah platform interaksi antara kerajaan dan sektor awam, swasta serta pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) untuk memberi pandangan dan maklum balas terhadap cabaran semasa serta langkah bagi menanganinya.

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Half of plastic supermarket packaging cannot be recycled, a study by Which? has found.Researchers analysed the packaging of 46 of the most popular own-brand items from leading supermarkets including Asda, M&S, Morrisons, and Waitrose.They found that only 52 per cent of the packaging - including cardboard, glass and plastics - could be easily put in household recycling bins.Morrisons was the worst offender, as 61 per cent of its packaging that Which? examined was not easily recyclable.The best supermarkets were Tesco and Waitrose - as only 40 per cent of their packaging could not be easily recycled.The study also found that 42 per cent of the total supermarket packaging was labelled either incorrectly or not at all, making it difficult for well-intentioned consumers and increasing the chances of it ending up in landfill.

Which? is calling on the government to make recycling labelling simple, clear and mandatory and ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place to make it easy for everyone to recycle.The consumer champion urged all the supermarkets to commit to ensuring a much greater proportion of their packaging is recyclable, rather than continuing to use environmentally unfriendly single-use, throwaway materials.

 

The study also examined the quality of recycling labelling.Iceland had the worst record for labelling, with only 38 per cent of packaging examined by Which? was correctly labelled.The supermarket’s easy peeler oranges which use type of plastic netting that cannot be recycled were not labelled at all, investigators found.Of the other supermarkets, M&S had 43 per cent of their products labelled correctly, whilst Ocado had 44 per cent and Waitrose 47 per cent.Asda led the way, demonstrating that recycling labelling can be done well, with eight in 10 items of packaging that Which? experts looked at correctly labelled.Natalie Hitchins, head of home products and services at Which?, said: “Our research shows there is a lot more supermarkets and manufacturers can do to banish single-use plastics and make sure any packaging they use is minimal, recyclable and correctly labelled, so that shoppers know exactly how they can recycle it.

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Nielsen Malaysia recently has conducted a study; ‘Nielsen Malaysia Sugar Tax Report (2019)’- a survey that involves 1,200 people from the ages of 18 to 64, across peninsular and East Malaysia."Eleven percent told us they will completely stop taking sugary drinks."“What we found is, Malaysians are actually very loyal when they like a specific brand.“However, 11 percent of them told us they will completely stop taking these sugary drinks. The rest of them claim they might reduce their consumption or switch to other cheaper brands."“It’s an interesting claim before the implementation of the tax. I’m curious to see if they do what they say. This is something we will follow up in the next few months. If 11 percent say they will stop drinking, that’s actually a big number,” says De Nard.

Malaysia is not the first country to introduce sweetened beverages tax to reduce sugar consumption among its people. Over 20 countries have implemented the tax and have shown a varying outcomes.“Three countries who have implemented with very distinctive results," says De Nard.Manufacturers in Saudi Arabia were able to adapt, they innovated and brought in new products“Firstly, Saudi Arabia. This country taxes 100 percent for energy drinks and 50 percent on carbonated drinks. It is a huge amount and the impact on the market was big as well- people stopped buying certain products. Manufacturers in Saudi Arabia were able to adapt, they innovated and brought in new products. It worked out quite nicely, actually. The results were significant.“Then, we studied Mexico. This country is very interesting because the Mexicans love sodas. They are actually at the top (globally) in terms of soda consumption. The Mexican government tried very hard to control this habit. They not only implement the tax but also forbid sugary drinks advertisements on television at certain time (of the day).

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THE Malaysian electricity industry has seen only a small increase in price over the past few years and that too has been limited to the industrial or commercial sector.The electricity price is based on a number of key factors such as usage or consumption (effects of climate change), demand and cost-to-serve. Yet the cost of electricity in Malaysia is still among the lowest in the world.By analysing the recent price changes in the Malaysian electricity sector and the price determining mechanism, then comparing the revenue in contrast to the per unit price on an international average, there would be a far clearer under­standing of the larger energy tariff landscape globally.The intent behind the implementation of incentive-based regulation (IBR) that has been practised globally is to incentivise power utility companies to improve efficiency, create stability in the electricity supply industry, increase transparency and offer competitively-priced tariffs.

Since 2014, Malaysia has put IBR mechanism in place as part of enhancing the electricity supply industry, making way for a more structured, transparent and informed way of tariff setting.This also takes into cognisance the huge requirement for capital expenditure (capex) and operational expenditure (opex) by the utilities for upgradation and modernisation in order to maintain the reliability and quality of electricity supply, even with growing demand.Let us approach each of these objectives one by one.

Reasonable tariff

Before embarking on meeting the objective of transparency and competitively priced tariffs, let us understand – so how do we set the price of electricity?The main objective of the IBR is to deliver efficient and reliable electricity supply at an efficient cost and reasonable tariff for its people.Tariff revision is carried out periodically and consistently by the Energy Commission, which has been mandated to do by the Government. In fact, the IBR also determines the revenue allowable for TNB for providing electricity.There are two components to the price for customers – a base tariff (the fixed amount) which is set at the beginning of each three-year regulatory period and has not increased since 2014, and the ICPT (Imbalance Cost Pass Through) which is a variable cost.

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PUTRAJAYA: The government today proposed to rope in cooperatives to help in the implementation of the 100 basic goods programme aimed at alleviating the rising cost of living.Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the programme was expected to reduce the prices of goods and the role of the middleman while encouraging the production of essential goods.“The cooperatives, with a membership of 6.1 million as of June 30 last year, plus their 2,500 outlets, can play a role in wholesale, retail and agricultural development programmes.“Wholesale and retail will involve the consolidation and development of cooperative products, while agriculture will involve farming, fisheries, vegetables and fruits, as well as agricultural input,” she said at a press conference after chairing the National Action Council on Cost of Living (NACCOL) meeting here today.

Also present were Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, his deputy Chong Chieng Jen, and Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad.Saifuddin later explained that the cooperatives would first scrutinise consumers’ buying patterns and come up with a list of frequently bought essential goods.These goods would later be sold at lower prices, he said.However, Saifuddin said the programme differed from that of KR1M outlets or 1Malaysia grocery stores, where the previous government had appointed Mydin as the prime mover and opened 180 premises with an allocation of RM300 million.

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PASIR GUDANG - Pencemaran udara terus merebak ke Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tanjung Puteri Resort di sini apabila beberapa pelajar mengalami sesak nafas, loya dan muntah.

Kejadian berlaku sekitar pukul 8 pagi tadi ketika sesi persekolahan baru berjalan sebelum beberapa pelajar mengalami simptom-simptom tersebut.Pelajar tersebut kemudiannya ditenangkan guru sekolah berkenaan sementara menunggu kehadiran ambulans untuk menghantar mereka ke hospital bagi mendapatkan rawatan susulan.
Difahamkan, pihak sekolah sudah mengeluarkan arahan kepada ibu bapa untuk membawa pulang anak masing-masing sebagai langkah keselamatan dan bagi mengelak keadaan bertambah buruk.

Sesi persekolahan terpaksa ditangguhkan setelah menimbulkan panik sejurus beberapa pelajar mengalami simptom akibat pencemaran udara.
Ini adalah kali kedua SMK Tanjung Puteri Resort terjejas akibat pencemaran udara selepas kali pertama ditutup akibat pencemaran toksik di Sungai Kim Kim di sini pada Mac lalu. -UTUSAN ONLINE

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𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐅 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐓𝐎
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) came into force on 1 January 1995 and is based in Geneva. More than 150 nations are members. The WTO’s top decision making body is the Ministerial Conference, which is normally held every two years. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
At the request of Consumers International, the WTO facilitated a session with consumers groups to allow the participants to discuss consumers' priorities as they relate to global trade and hear an update about the work that is being done at the WTO. It will be the first session organized solely for consumer organizations under our 'Trade Dialogues' series.
 
𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗔𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗦𝗜𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘
From Malaysia Consumer Group, represented by Ms Shabana Naseer
The meeting was held on 6-5-2019 at WTO office, Geneva, Switzerland. Upon arriving at the office, the delegates were required to register and collect their ID before they can enter the highly secured building. The delegates were ushered by WTO staff to the meeting room (Room B) for the morning session.

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Just as the sun goes down behind the high-rise flats in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur, trader M. Yanis Mohd Tengku Mahadi hangs an orange tag over the beam of his nasi campur stall at the Ramadan bazaar.It’s almost time for maghrib prayers and soon calls will be resonating from the nearby mosques. It is time to break fast.Yanis has been doing the same thing for the past 15 years, selling more than 40 types of dishes as well as nasi lemak and kuih at his stall, every Ramadan.Most of the time, his dishes are a hit with visitors to the bazaar, one of a few dozen dotting the Klang Valley during the holy month. But even on a good day, there is bound to be leftovers.“There is still some leftover, although not a lot. Yet I cannot bear to see this go to waste,” he says in an interview.This year, Yanis is taking part in the MYSaveFood@Ramadan programme organised by government agencies – the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) and the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council – youth volunteer group Pertubuhan Pemuda Gema Malaysia, and the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) Malaysia.

The food waste and climate change connection

A Ramadan bazaar trader handing over unsold products to volunteers from the MYSaveFood programme. Photo: SHAARI CHEMAT /The StarHe is among hundreds of traders in 15 locations nationwide who are giving what they cannot sell to the programme so the food can be redistributed by volunteers to the needy and to charitable homes.The orange tag tells the volunteers which traders to go to.“I feel so relieved that there are initiatives like this so that there is no waste,” says Yanis as MYSaveFood volunteers come by his stall to pick up the leftover food.

A Big Waste
It is an irony that a nation of passionate food lovers – remember the chicken rice war with Singapore and the popiah battle with Indonesia? – throws away some 16,680 tonnes of grub a day, according to a 2017 survey by SWCorp.Food waste, according to the survey, makes up 44.5% of the almost 38,000 tonnes of solid waste generated by Malaysians daily. The waste composition study was conducted in several places, each targeting at least 50 people.While this figure may already seem high, it climbs every time there is a festival, according to Mardi’s Advanced and Reproductive Technologies Programme deputy director Dr Ainu Husna MS Suhaimi.“We can get up to 100kg of food from one Ramadan bazaar alone,” she points out.And, despite rising world hunger, this wastage isn’t just confined to Malaysians. Globally, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation’s (FAO) website, an estimated one-third of all food produced – that’s a staggering 1.3 billion tonnes – is either lost or goes to waste.

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