KUCHING: Guidelines have been drawn up to regulate economic activities presently not covered under existing environmental legislation.
This follows public complaints on the environmental effect of activities like swiftlet farming, bird’s nest processing, open dumping, batching plant, livestock farming and abattoirs or slaughterhouses.
In response the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) Sarawak recently held an in-house lab, attended by 32 staff from regional offices, to brainstorm the problem at hand.
On the table for discussion were Environmental Guidelines for Non-prescribed Activities and Guidelines on the Requirement for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and Environmental Management Guidelines (EMG).
“We hope these guidelines will be used as a reference by entrepreneurs, local councils, enforcement and all stakeholders on the environmental aspects,” it said.
“It needs to be complied with or taken into account during the implementation of economic activities mentioned earlier.”
“The accumulated effects of such operations and activities can be detrimental to the environment if not handled properly, in addition to disrupting the daily lives of the people,” it said.
But it said these guidelines do not apply to large-scale development activities or projects that have a high environmental impact such as commercial plantations, logging, mining, construction and so on.
“The environmental framework for such activities has been gazetted in the First Schedule of the Natural Resources and Environment (Prescribed Activities) Order 1994,” it said.
