Environmental pollution problems in Malaysia have a long history. River pollution by mine wastewater and sludge began with the rapid development of tin mining, a traditional industry that started at the turn of the century about 100 years ago. In later years, other traditional industries such as natural rubber and palm oil production began in earnest, and wastewater from the factories caused further pollution of rivers and seas.
From the late 1960s, Malaysia pursued rapid industrialization supported by foreign investment,
but the result of industrialization was a raft of pollution problems, caused by industrial wastewater and other wastes, which became very apparent from the 1970s. In recent years, air pollution caused by the tremendous increase in road traffic that has accompanied economic development, and water pollution from household wastewater, have become obvious problems that particularly affect urban areas.
Another recent problem is haze (smoke and fog caused by particulate matter), which occurred on a large scale for several months in 1997 and caused respiratory complaints and other health problems in the community. In this incident, the haze was caused by the huge forest fires on Kalimantan Island and in other parts of Indonesia, across the sea from Malaysia. It is therefore a unique environmental problem that will not be easy to solve. Other problems noted in Malaysia are oil pollution of the sea and deforestation due to regional development of various kinds.
Although Malaysia has a host of environmental problems that demand solution, including those associated with scheduled wastes, the government is implementing more effective pollution controls than other Southeast Asian nations. It is also committing resources to construction of environmental infrastructures, such as sewerage systems to deal with household wastewater. Given these positive moves, environmental problems in Malaysia do not appear to be as grave as in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand which were covered in our previous surveys.
