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http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/38648

Mr. Stephen Wong invite EVERYONE to come forward for a dialog & discussion with Mr. Wong Tak regarding the above DEIA report soon to be released .

 

Please come forward now to show your support before its too late and regretted why you didn’t come forward to help.

Date : 19th May 2010 ( Wednesday )

Time : 7.30 pm sharp

venue : Chinese Chamber of Commerce , Sandakan .

 

Thank You

Regards

www.savesandakan.com

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Kota Kinabalu: There is nothing to look forward to on power supply in Sabah in the coming months or years if a recent briefing by the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) is anything to go by.

State DAP Vice Chairman Anthony Teo said the picture painted by SESB was that the electricity supply in the State would be "very erratic or more so in Sandakan."

"This will indeed be a major cause of concern and gloomy for Sabahans especially those living in the East Coast ÉI think this briefing is like (a) ‘I told you so’ (briefing)," said Teo, who is also the Sabah DAP Industrial Bureau chief.

The briefing he was referring to involved the SESB Public Relations Department, which spoke to several groups about the recent severe power interruption involving their corporate consumers in Sandakan, on Thursday.

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600-strong Sandakan environ walk

Kan Yaw Chong

KOTA KINABALU: Six hundred people of diverse backgrounds joined the first ever Sandakan “Walk for the Environment ” themed “Unite Against Climate Change”, Sunday.

Sandakan Municipal Council President, Dr James Wong, flagged off and joined the 4km walk which started at the Town Padang and went through the town centre leading to the coastal Sim Sim Road, back to the town centre and ended at the Town Padang.

Leading the pack included former Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly Datuk Seri Panglima Hassan Alban Sandukong, his wheel chaired wife Datin Nuri and a slew of NGO and community leaders, including Au Kam Wah, State Assemblyman for Elopura, and Chong Hon Min, former Independent Member of Parliament for Sandakan.

“This is a historic event”‘ said Charles Chow, Chairman of the Sandakan Pro-Tem Committee which organized the event.

He noted the “obvious unity” of all races and strata of society against climate change and thanked the police, the Council President, his committee members and the public for their support.

SEPA (Sabah Environment Protection Association) President, Wong Tack, said the extraordinary spirit of the Sandakan community to protect the future of their children and to ensure Sabah always remains green is worth emulating.

Charles, meanwhile, attributed the zestful turnout to concern and awareness as a result of wide coverage in the local dailies, FM Sandakan, distribution of flyers and by word of mouth.

Charles had earlier said relevance of the walk, citing how every Malaysian as well as foreign visitor ranging from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan have complained about the sweltering heat waves of late.

“Recent records and observation has shown carbon dioxide buildup to 450 parts per million (ppmV) globally while a study on surface temperatures in major towns across Malaysia carried out by professors at UKM had registered an alarming increase by 3.5 degrees Celsius,” Charles citied.

“This reflects abnormal variations to the expected climate within the earth’s atmosphere,” he said.  “I was in Kuala Lumpur recently and my watch with a temperature meter recorded 36 degrees Celsius while normal maximum in the past was about 33 degrees,” be said.

“There is much economic advantage to stimulate investment for the mitigation of local greenhouse gas emissions,” Charles suggested.

“We should therefore seriously look into these mitigation measures,” he added, citing the need to change everyday lifestyle, behavior, the adoption of energy efficient technologies, government rewards and incentives to industries for green initiatives, reduction of greenhouse emissions to raise air quality and health, investment in future energy capital with the environment in mind and strong emphasis on green technology, energy efficient buildings and encourage agricultural practices that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stress the protection of Sabah’s rainforests as a powerful mitigation factor,” he said.

He said it was “essential” to raise awareness on emission reduction at all levels of society.  “This is what the SEPA Sandakan effort is all about,” he pointed out, citing how the florescent bulb use 65 per cent less energy than filament bulb and a host of other potential actions that will make the difference, according to him.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Oct 31, 2007 Singapore St. Times online
Pollution toll: China birth defects rise staggering 40%
By Tracy Quek, China Correspondent
BEIJING – THE number of Chinese babies being born with visible birth defects has surged 40 per cent to about 300,000, a government report said, and officials said pollution could be the cause. The rate of visible deformities among newborns in severely polluted China – home to 16 of the world’s 20 dirtiest cities – has leapt from 104.9 per 10,000 births in 2001, to 145.5 per 10,000 last year. And when defects which cannot be seen, such as heart problems, are taken into account, 1.2 million, or 6 per cent of the 20 million children born annually in China, are affected, a trend that threatens to hobble the country’s socio-economic development. These startling statistics were revealed by Mr Jiang Fan, deputy head of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, in a recent speech at a conference in south-western Chengdu. Driving home the severity of the point, he said this meant that ‘a baby with birth defects is born every thirty seconds’, and that almost one in every 10 Chinese households is affected. China’s rate is dangerously near the top end of global figures. The World Health Organization estimates about 3 per cent to 5 per cent of children worldwide are born with birth defects. Mr Jiang said almost a third of the affected babies would die, 40 per cent would be ‘disabled’, while a third would be able to enjoy ‘a fairly good quality of life’, as long as they received early treatment. Beijing has already decreed that pollution emissions must be cut by 10 per cent by 2010, but the commission’s findings can only add urgency to the country’s efforts to clean up its polluted air, water and soil. Otherwise, as Mr Jiang said, the upward trend of birth defects will have serious consequences for China’s socio-economic development. He said that caring for affected infants already costs ’several hundreds of billions of yuan’, and warned that if the problem is left unchecked, China would ‘face the hidden danger of a loss of labour population’. ‘Birth defects directly affect the rise of China’s comprehensive national strength and international competitiveness, and the economy’s continued development,’ he added, calling on medical authorities to better educate potential parents and increase spending on prevention and screening. Mr Jiang did not go as far as to blame the surge in birth defects exclusively on pollution, saying there are many and complicated causes. But an official with Shanxi province’s family planning authority, a major coal-producing region and one of China’s most polluted areas, told state media this week that statistics for his province demonstrated a direct relation between pollution and birth defects. Mr An Huanxiao not only said that high rates of birth defects clustered around badly polluted areas in Shanxi, but also pointed to the fact that in eight of the province’s coal producing areas, the number of birth defects is clearly higher than the national average. At the same time, however, Mr An said that poorer, rural areas and places with low education are producing higher than average rates of birth defects. tracyq@sph.com.sg

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Popularity: 2% [?]