THE world's seas are gradually filling with an increasing volume of waste, with plastic making up the single largest part of pollution in the marine environment, according to a new report authored by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Washington-based advocacy group The Ocean Conservancy.
Plastic most often found in the form of PET bottles and shopping bags can be found floating in seas around the globe. It accounts for up to 80 per cent of marine waste pollution in some waters, according to the report which was published in Washington and Nairobi to mark World Oceans Day on June 8.
Smoking also plays a major role in marine pollution. The report's researchers discovered that of the 103 million pieces of marine pollution categorised in the study, 25 million were cigarette filters or individual cigarettes.
"The oceans are our life support systems," says Ocean Conservancy president Vikki Spruill. "They supply much of the oxygen we breath, the food we eat and regulate the climate we need to survive. But marine pollution continues to pose a threat to our health."
The report highlights the plight of sea turtles who often confuse plastic bags with jellyfish, one of their main sources of food. Many sea turtles die from consuming plastic bags.
A five-year study of Arctic Fulmar seabirds in the North Sea found 95 per cent had pieces of plastic in their stomachs.
This plastic is then broken down into smaller parts before being passed out into the environment and consumed by smaller organisms. In this way plastic is reaching the lowest levels of the marine food chain.
"Marine waste pollution is symptomatic of a wider problem," UNEP executive director Achim Steiner explains in a press release.
"It highlights our wasteful practices and bad management of natural resources." Plastic bags, bottles and other forms of waste that are gathering in our seas could be recycled or considerably reduced through proper waste management.
"Some forms of waste such as tin foil or disposable plastic bags, which are choking our seas, should be banned or their manufacture quickly stopped. There is no justification for their continued production anywhere," says Steiner.
This first study of its kind looked at marine waste found in 12 sea regions including the Mediterranean, the Baltic and the Caribbean. According to the report's authors much of the waste found at sea is caused by tourism.
A good example of how tourism and clean oceans are not mutually exclusive can be found in Mauritius and the Seychelles which are not contributing to waste pollution in the Indian Ocean even though they are very popular tourist destinations.
According to earlier findings by UNEP, 6.4 million tonnes of waste are disposed of at sea every year. Every square kilometre of sea has an estimated 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in it.
Most of that waste is produced by international shipping. Instead of paying to dispose of their waste in harbours, many captains decide to have their ship's garbage simply thrown overboard while at sea.
Shipping as a source of marine pollution is followed by domestic and industrial waste that is washed into the oceans down rivers and then spread around the globe by currents and the wind.
NO LIES... JUST THE FACTS!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Malacca airport becoming ‘white elephant’
An opposition assemblyman has raised the fear that the recently extended RM190mil Melaka International Airport would become a “white elephant” if it is not fully-utilised.
Khoo Poay Tiong (DAP-Ayer Keroh) expressed this concern after the legislative assembly was told that the state government intends to set up Syarikat Melaka Air Sdn Bhd to operate low-cost flights from the airport in Batu Berendam.
“Is Melaka Air being formed because no other airline wants to come to this international airport?” he asked, saying that there were only daily flights by Wings Air and Indonesian-based Riau Airlines.
He added that budget airline Firefly had only operated two chartered flights here between May and July.
“I am worried that the airport will end up being a white elephant as there are only three airlines operating here, with one operating just chartered flights.”
He reminded the House that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam had said in August 2008 that low-cost carrier AirAsia would use the airport.
In his reply, state Transport, Information and Consumerism committee chairman R. Perumal said Melaka Air would be managed by state-owned Perbadanan Melaka Holdings.
He said the aim of forming the company was to attract more tourists to the state, in particular those coming for the health and recreational tourism sectors.
Khoo Poay Tiong (DAP-Ayer Keroh) expressed this concern after the legislative assembly was told that the state government intends to set up Syarikat Melaka Air Sdn Bhd to operate low-cost flights from the airport in Batu Berendam.
“Is Melaka Air being formed because no other airline wants to come to this international airport?” he asked, saying that there were only daily flights by Wings Air and Indonesian-based Riau Airlines.
He added that budget airline Firefly had only operated two chartered flights here between May and July.
“I am worried that the airport will end up being a white elephant as there are only three airlines operating here, with one operating just chartered flights.”
He reminded the House that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam had said in August 2008 that low-cost carrier AirAsia would use the airport.
In his reply, state Transport, Information and Consumerism committee chairman R. Perumal said Melaka Air would be managed by state-owned Perbadanan Melaka Holdings.
He said the aim of forming the company was to attract more tourists to the state, in particular those coming for the health and recreational tourism sectors.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
DEDICATED TO MATTA
An engineer died and ended up in Hell. He was not pleased with the level of comfort in Hell, and began to redesign and build improvements. After a while, they had toilets that flush, air conditioning, and escalators.Everyone grew very fond of him.
One day God called to Satan to mock him, "So, how's it going down there in Hell?"
Satan replied, "Hey, things are great. We've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there's no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next."
God was surprised, "What? You've got an engineer? That's a mistake. He should never have gotten down there in the first place. Send him back up here."
"No way," replied Satan. "I like having an engineer, and I'm keeping him."
God threatened, "Send him back up here now or I'll sue!"
Satan laughed and answered, "Yeah, right. And just where are YOU going to get a lawyer?"
BY A JOKER
One day God called to Satan to mock him, "So, how's it going down there in Hell?"
Satan replied, "Hey, things are great. We've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there's no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next."
God was surprised, "What? You've got an engineer? That's a mistake. He should never have gotten down there in the first place. Send him back up here."
"No way," replied Satan. "I like having an engineer, and I'm keeping him."
God threatened, "Send him back up here now or I'll sue!"
Satan laughed and answered, "Yeah, right. And just where are YOU going to get a lawyer?"
BY A JOKER
NO FORCED MEMBERSHIP IN NGOs
by SARJIT SINGH
Project Consultant
School of Hospitality, Tourism, & Culinary Arts
Taylor's University College
The international expectance of NGO’s is that no one, including the public authority can enforce strict procedures for one to be a forced member. I sit on many international bodies and on the local level have been involved with Youth, Sports, Leisure, Recreation, private clubs, religious organizations and hotel industry and am of the opinion that an NGO becomes stronger and attractive if they do not have forced membership.
An NGO should be attractive, serving, representing and giving. Then only will someone join the organisation. And, when that happens, the NGO will be strong and respected by the members.
For me the closest example to my chest is MAH – The Malaysian Association of Hotels.
The former Minister of Tourism Tan Sri Dato Paduka Sheikh Kadir Sheikh Fadhir tried to get forced membership of hotels for MAH, MBHA and MAHO. He succeed through the Cabinet but his paper was thrown out by the AG Chambers.
AG Chambers bluntly said “ No one should force membership into an NGO”. In fact this is enshrined in the -Robert’s Rule of Law that governs NGO’s. Apparently, and I hope I heard it right, that for MATTA, the AG overlooked this clause and allowed mandatory membership.
It was at this junction that under the leadership of then President of MAH Tuan Agus Salim, that MAH started to be attractive to the members and its membership mushroomed and state chapters formed. Then, during the term of Datuk Ilyas, MAH consolidated further to strengthen the chapters and provided a more effective platform of members in their respective states.
NGO should serve and not be used for personal glory and personal travels.
Project Consultant
School of Hospitality, Tourism, & Culinary Arts
Taylor's University College
The international expectance of NGO’s is that no one, including the public authority can enforce strict procedures for one to be a forced member. I sit on many international bodies and on the local level have been involved with Youth, Sports, Leisure, Recreation, private clubs, religious organizations and hotel industry and am of the opinion that an NGO becomes stronger and attractive if they do not have forced membership.
An NGO should be attractive, serving, representing and giving. Then only will someone join the organisation. And, when that happens, the NGO will be strong and respected by the members.
For me the closest example to my chest is MAH – The Malaysian Association of Hotels.
The former Minister of Tourism Tan Sri Dato Paduka Sheikh Kadir Sheikh Fadhir tried to get forced membership of hotels for MAH, MBHA and MAHO. He succeed through the Cabinet but his paper was thrown out by the AG Chambers.
AG Chambers bluntly said “ No one should force membership into an NGO”. In fact this is enshrined in the -Robert’s Rule of Law that governs NGO’s. Apparently, and I hope I heard it right, that for MATTA, the AG overlooked this clause and allowed mandatory membership.
It was at this junction that under the leadership of then President of MAH Tuan Agus Salim, that MAH started to be attractive to the members and its membership mushroomed and state chapters formed. Then, during the term of Datuk Ilyas, MAH consolidated further to strengthen the chapters and provided a more effective platform of members in their respective states.
NGO should serve and not be used for personal glory and personal travels.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Applications for low-cost passport may hit 1.8 million
The cost-effective international passport has received an overwhelming response from the public that the Immigration Department believes applications will increase to 1.8 million this year.
The department’s director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said there were 1.2 million applications last year for the RM100 passport, which is valid for two years.
“We attribute the jump to the low cost and value-for-money factor as well as the speedy one-hour processing period,” said Abdul Rahman during a press conference in Pusat Bandar Damansara yesterday.
He said the department had received 913,440 applications for passports from January to June this year, which marked a 200,000 increase compared to the same period last year.
“This is the best product we have offered to meet the people’s need,” he said.
He said the one-hour passport service is available at 28 out of 35 branches nationwide.
The service is available in Alor Setar, Langkawi, Kulim, Bukit Kayu Hitam, Muar, Mersing, Kukup, Segamat, Kuantan, Raub, Temerloh, Lumut, Teluk Intan, Pengkalan Hulu, Taiping, Tawau, Sandakan, Bintulu, Sibu and Miri.
Abdul Rahman said that despite the speedy processing time, the security features have a 100% record with no forgeries or tampering reported yet.
“Malaysia offers the fastest passport processing time, our closet rival can only achieve it within three days,” Abdul Rahman added.
The department’s director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said there were 1.2 million applications last year for the RM100 passport, which is valid for two years.
“We attribute the jump to the low cost and value-for-money factor as well as the speedy one-hour processing period,” said Abdul Rahman during a press conference in Pusat Bandar Damansara yesterday.
He said the department had received 913,440 applications for passports from January to June this year, which marked a 200,000 increase compared to the same period last year.
“This is the best product we have offered to meet the people’s need,” he said.
He said the one-hour passport service is available at 28 out of 35 branches nationwide.
The service is available in Alor Setar, Langkawi, Kulim, Bukit Kayu Hitam, Muar, Mersing, Kukup, Segamat, Kuantan, Raub, Temerloh, Lumut, Teluk Intan, Pengkalan Hulu, Taiping, Tawau, Sandakan, Bintulu, Sibu and Miri.
Abdul Rahman said that despite the speedy processing time, the security features have a 100% record with no forgeries or tampering reported yet.
“Malaysia offers the fastest passport processing time, our closet rival can only achieve it within three days,” Abdul Rahman added.
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