PETALING JAYA: An environmentalist has called for ownership of rivers to be transferred from state governments to the federal government,
K Kalithasan, river care manager of the Global Environment Centre, said treating rivers as national assets will end the inter-state disputes over water resources, and ensure they can be better protected.
He said rivers and water basins were a common resource and should be cared for by a one-stop agency like the Mekong River Commission.
The commission, comprising the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, manages the Mekong River, which flows through those countries.
Control of river water has been at the centre of a spat between the Penang and Kedah state governments over plans to mine rare-earth elements in the Ulu Muda area in Kedah which is a water catchment area for the state, Penang, and Perlis.
K Kalithasan said a one-stop agency on rivers must be led by the federal government but comprise state governments, which have a valid economic reason to want to exploit resources that could affect water catchment areas.
He said state governments need money; by protecting water catchment areas, they lose the opportunity to make money, while other states benefit from the use of the water.
He said all states should share the burden of protecting water catchment areas, and the federalising of water resources will allow Putrajaya to compensate states for preserving the water catchment areas.
Chan Ngai Weng, a Universiti Sains Malaysia expert in water resource management also called for the establishment of a single agency to control rivers.
“When there are two or more agencies involved, the management becomes problematic due to inter-agency competition, overlapping of responsibilities, protection of self-interests, and other issues.
“This is the case in Malaysia now. Although the Drainage and Irrigation Department is the rightful manager of rivers in Malaysia, other agencies also have a say, with the most serious issue being that rivers and their basins are within the jurisdiction of state governments,” he said, adding with a single agency, disputes over water can be reduced.