Danida to Aid Project on River Management in Malaysia

With the help from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) , pilot projects are to be carried out on having integrated river basin management systems for Sungai Kedah and Sungai Selangor in Malaysia.


This will be done along with the drafting of laws to have a single authority in charge of rivers and their surrounding activities.
The projects would give input on which aspects of having a sole authority were legally feasible, since water and land resources come under the jurisdiction of individual states.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said that this would be a big constitutional issue.He did not discount the possibility that the constitution may have to be amended in order to have a master authority oversee all aspects of river management.
“Maybe, it’s possible. We may have to if we want clean rivers and water supply for the future,” he said at his office yesterday.
Azmi said Malaysia was eager to implement this management approach, which is being used in Japan.
“The cabinet agreed to an integrated management system for river basins in 2003, and recently reiterated its support this year.”
Malaysia had 184 river basins and 50 per cent of the country’s rivers were still good.



 

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