How, Where or What to make it happem...

The Star news Paper today published some statics with regards to Penang being selected as one of the most livable cities in Asia 'on Par with KL and Bangkok, Thailand.' The picture showed the CM at a site on Prangin Road where a Back hoe was in the process of digging what looked like a black sewage drain while onlookers watched in celebrated fanfare. Kudos to the CM, I want to believe he got my message but highly unlikely and even if by chance my moaning and groaning about the environment did get through from what i see it is still a 'Band Aid Job', making a show of doing something better than nothing.
We do not need a publicity stunt or being recognized by some international panel of judges to upgrade what is sorely need to be taken care of in our backyard, we need a proactive spirit regardless of who acknowledges our efforts. it is not for the benefit of the few who has the means to choose to settle down here that we need to look into the matters concerning the health and welfare of the state but for those who claim themselves sons and daughters of Penangites, the inheritors of this beautiful Island.
Enough said, so how do we got about making things happen? From my understanding of what little i have learned about the cleaning up of rivers there certain steps that needs to happen before one starts to dig or build and those steps involves allot of research, surveys and implementations. One of these most crucial undertaking is the survey done to ascertain all points of pollution from the smallest drains to the minor tributaries that leads to the main river itself. I call this the soul searching survey where no one escapes and everyone is held accountable for the source of pollution in front and behind their homes and shop houses. We can begin by confronting the worse 0f these sources and that is the automotive shops where cars and motorcycles are repaired, where buses are serviced wherever an engine oil change takes place. By persuasion or cohesion we will have to educate those found emptying waste oil into the drains or behind their shops to seize doing so and provide them all with an alternative. Make this known in the Media so that everyone responsible will come forward to participate in the effort. Do not use force or will of power but try persuasion and appeal to better awareness and understanding. Sometimes even the hardcore devil may care individual can be made to become involved if the approach is right.
Waste oil is the major polluter in any environment and it is not easy to detect as it can be hidden from sight in the form of washout by rain and the flow of water eventually ends up in the river. Waste oil is carcinogenic as everyone can tell you, it causes cancer especially in our country where the hot climate dries up the oil which also seeps into the ground leaving behind the heavy metal from engines. This is flown around in the wind to be ingested by all man and animals alike, don't take my word for it, READ!
The disposal of waste oil by various points of origins such as Auto shops and mechanic stalls needs to be addressed seriously and knowing their journey from 'cradle to grave is essential to the state government agency like the environmental or health departments. If found where none exist every effort should be made to assist the proprietor in setting up such a program. For every engine oil change on a motorcycle at least two quarts of waste oil finds its way into the drain if not the ground when done by owners themselves to save cost. We have to stop this one way or another, it takes not much thinking on how to go about implementing this procedures without causing too much backlash from the users, again right, communication. Making them aware what is right and wrong and why it hurts everyone in the long run including their own.
I am not assuming anything, does Penang have a waste oil recycling plant or at least a waste oil water separation system? Does it have a waste oil collecting unit that services all the automotive outlets including the public transport system depots? Or do we depend on some far away facility such as the Quality Alam facility in Seremban at whose mercy we are when it comes to implementation of such a service, like how often and how reliable the services and who monitors this? If the answer is yes, Kudos! if not we might think about it deeply and take appropriate action to remedy the situation or we can live with it and make belief all is well while our rivers and sea remains one of the most polluted in the country.
This is only one of the sources of pollution that is infesting the rivers in Penang it is an invisible pollutant and needs to be brought to light so that the general public becomes more conscious of its presence. Who bears the cost and manpower to carry out this kind of survey? This is where the power of persuasion and the spirit of volunteerism comes into play. The survey can be carried out by NGOs and various organizations on a voluntary basis with the guidance of the State agencies such as the MPPP. This is where the so called friends of the rivers and the environment are challenged to put words into action. Pinalizing and throwing fines at offenders comes much later when all is said and done, when the infrastructure is laid down, when the solution is viable without force, we have to sell the idea to the general public as a whole. This is where the media can play its positive role instead of merely looking for sensational events or political dramas. Our river needs a general overhaul and only we can provide the remedy, we the citizens of the State.
... so lets make it happen.
To be contd...