By being grumpy, Noh not helping the country
COMMENT These days, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar seems to appear as one grumpy old man, when he said that Selangor’s ‘No Plastic’ campaign would not succeed if the sale of plastic bags was still being allowed.
Rather than politicising the ‘No Plastic’ campaign, Noh should have played his role in promoting the good initiative, which is so far only being carried in a few states including Penang and the latest, effective from Jan 1, the state of Selangor.
What is more baffling is that Noh had seemingly not consulted his colleagues in the cabinet who were responsible in controlling the sale of plastic bags. Had he done his homework, he would have spared himself from being embarrassed.
In a simple but indirect rebuttal, Selangor state exco member Elizabeth Wong, through her policy officer, Adrian Yeo had said yesterday that the negotiation was between hypermarkets and the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry. Bingo!
So there is really no reason for Noh to even challenge the state government “to order supermarkets and other business outlets to replace the plastic bags with alternatives such as environment-friendly or biodegradable bags”.
Solve the problem, not create the need for incinerators
Go directly to Hamzah Zainudin, the minister in charge of the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry, and discuss with him why Hamzah or his predecessors had allowed hypermarkets to sell the plastic bags without ever coming out with a mechanism of accountability.
As far as I know during Selangor’s local council events, the state has already instructed food vendors to comply with its green policy. Why is Noh allegedly still doing nothing about getting the local councils nationwide to implement a similar policy?
Noh, as minister in charge of the local councils, should also instruct other states to implement ‘No Plastics’ campaigns. This, including segregation of wastes, is something that had been discussed but never implemented since former housing and local government minister Ting Chew Pei’s time.
All the while, it is no action, talk only. What we have been hearing all these years is that we need a large-scale incinerator to deal with the solid wastes. With that, the country would have to fork out money to implement such projects nationwide.
After the project is implemented, then we hear that it has become another white elephant or it is no longer operating. Why all the wastages? Who is responsible for such wastages?
At the end of the day, it is the rakyat who are paying for such expensive technology, but no solution has been found. Instead of managing his own backyard, Noh’s unfounded sarcasm, yet without doing his part to save the environment, is unwelcomed.
Under Noh’s former ministry, there had been talk about raising reducing the import of beef from overseas. Some RM240 million was allocated for the project, but where are all the cows? Noh should also answer us about what happened with regard to the failed fresh prawn farming that was carried out under his care.
COMMENT These days, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar seems to appear as one grumpy old man, when he said that Selangor’s ‘No Plastic’ campaign would not succeed if the sale of plastic bags was still being allowed.
Rather than politicising the ‘No Plastic’ campaign, Noh should have played his role in promoting the good initiative, which is so far only being carried in a few states including Penang and the latest, effective from Jan 1, the state of Selangor.
What is more baffling is that Noh had seemingly not consulted his colleagues in the cabinet who were responsible in controlling the sale of plastic bags. Had he done his homework, he would have spared himself from being embarrassed.
In a simple but indirect rebuttal, Selangor state exco member Elizabeth Wong, through her policy officer, Adrian Yeo had said yesterday that the negotiation was between hypermarkets and the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry. Bingo!
So there is really no reason for Noh to even challenge the state government “to order supermarkets and other business outlets to replace the plastic bags with alternatives such as environment-friendly or biodegradable bags”.
Solve the problem, not create the need for incinerators
Go directly to Hamzah Zainudin, the minister in charge of the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry, and discuss with him why Hamzah or his predecessors had allowed hypermarkets to sell the plastic bags without ever coming out with a mechanism of accountability.
As far as I know during Selangor’s local council events, the state has already instructed food vendors to comply with its green policy. Why is Noh allegedly still doing nothing about getting the local councils nationwide to implement a similar policy?
Noh, as minister in charge of the local councils, should also instruct other states to implement ‘No Plastics’ campaigns. This, including segregation of wastes, is something that had been discussed but never implemented since former housing and local government minister Ting Chew Pei’s time.
All the while, it is no action, talk only. What we have been hearing all these years is that we need a large-scale incinerator to deal with the solid wastes. With that, the country would have to fork out money to implement such projects nationwide.
After the project is implemented, then we hear that it has become another white elephant or it is no longer operating. Why all the wastages? Who is responsible for such wastages?
At the end of the day, it is the rakyat who are paying for such expensive technology, but no solution has been found. Instead of managing his own backyard, Noh’s unfounded sarcasm, yet without doing his part to save the environment, is unwelcomed.
Under Noh’s former ministry, there had been talk about raising reducing the import of beef from overseas. Some RM240 million was allocated for the project, but where are all the cows? Noh should also answer us about what happened with regard to the failed fresh prawn farming that was carried out under his care.
Time for proper management of wastes
When a neighbour of mine read about the ‘No Plastics’ campaign, instead of sending us the usual New Year greetings, she wrote: “Happy New Year! I have received two great news. 1. Sri KDU stopped handing out hardcopy handbooks. They send via email. 2. Selangor government stopped retailers from handing out plastic bags. Looks like there is something good to look forward in this new year. Now, I am really happy. Hope you are happy too?”
A well-travelled lady, she made a good point: “In countries like Taiwan, they do not provide plastic bags. When you buy a cosmetic product from the pharmacy, for example, why should they provide a small plastic bag? Why can’t the item be put into the handbag straight away after paying?”
At least, as a woman, she makes more sense than Noh himself who tries to pick a quarrel over the 20 sen for every plastic bag that the retailer sells. If he cares to read the people’s sentiments, he would have at least said the right thing.
The problem is that there is no money to be made or votes to be gained when such policies are being implemented; hence, politicians would rather spend their time on big projects than on the simple things in life that could be part of a greater long-term solution.
Many conscientious Malaysians are in fact very keen to protect the environment. In fact, every two or three days, as a household, we only generate one or two small plastic bags of wastes. The rest of it (paper, plastics and tin cans) goes to the recycling.
At this juncture, I am even experimenting with the idea of turning food wastes into compost. Watch this simple video clip, courtesy of TindakMalaysia’s PY Wong.
It goes without saying that the zero plastics or zero polystyrene campaign, and even segregation of wastes, has started long ago in a number of private universities and schools.
Why not the country as a whole?
STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
