KUALA LUMPUR: Cases involving environmental crimes convicted in court increased to 409 cases last year compared to 289 cases in 2019, said Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
In this regard, he said heavier and proportionate punishment should be imposed on environmental criminals because pollution has affected the environmental ecosystem, negatively impacting the quality of health, safety and well-being of the people.
He said in recent times, the country is often faced with pollution issues such as the dumping of chemical waste into rivers, the release of factory smoke without proper control, widespread forest encroachment, open burning, uncontrolled development and others.
"Directly, this situation has a negative impact on the environment such as water source pollution, air pollution, increase in earth's temperature, flash floods, landslides, extinction of flora and fauna and the unpredictable weather changes.
"As a result of the damage and natural disasters, the government allocated millions of ringgit to repair infrastructure, conserve the environmental ecosystem, cover medical costs, provide housing for the people and solve various related problems," he said.
He said this when presenting the Environmental Quality Bill (Amendment) 2023 for the second reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (March 21).
According to Nik Nazmi, the bill aims to amend the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127) which was enacted in 1974 to prevent, eliminate, control pollution, restore the environment and for related purposes.
On the overall, he said the Environmental Quality Bill (Amendment) 2023 involves compound elements, penalties, minimum and maximum fine provisions so that stricter actions and higher punishments can be taken against perpetrators and offenders who cause environmental pollution.
"Previously, Act 127 has gone through six phases of amendment involving enforcement procedures and an increase in fines to RM500,000 for the offence of open burning, oil and waste pollution in Malaysian waters, illegal disposal of scheduled waste as well as non-compliance with the conditions of approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA) ).
"The amendment this time (2023) is the seventh amendment and gives priority to punishments, fines and penalties through the creation of minimum and maximum fines if convicted under this act.
"In addition, the existing fines will be increased up to RM10mil, especially for offences involving water pollution, oil discharge, discharge of waste in Malaysian waters as well as illegal disposal of scheduled waste," he said.
The Dewan Rakyat sitting resumes on Monday (March 25). - Bernama
