KUCHING: More than 100 participants yesterday turned up for the “Environmental Conservation for Sustainability Seminar 2017” at Imperial Hotel here.
A collaborative effort between the state Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) and Institut Kimia Malaysia (IKM), the one-and-a-half day event attracted participants from 40 governmental and private agencies in East Malaysia.
Assistant Minister of Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment, Datu Len Talif Salleh, who launched the seminar, said that Sarawak was pressing forward in environmental conservation and protection.
“Sarawak has been stringent in i ts Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirements and because of that, we have been able to minimise many adverse impacts on our environment.
“Companies are now aware of the benefits of EIA in their project planning and for mega and environmentally sensitive projects, we insist that they must do the Social and Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA). “We want to ensure that the people affected by the projects will be properly taken care of and their social needs are adequately addressed,” he added in his speech.
Len added that the seminar was timely. “I am pleased to note that this seminar will cover topics in forest and wildlife conservation, water resource management, sustainable agriculture practices, environmental management for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and environmental audit.
“All these topics are relevant to Sarawak and we urge all companies as well as individuals to play their active roles in conserving our environment,” he said.
