PICC councilor voices concern over safety of water supply

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Island City Council councilor Lim Mah Hui today expressed his concern over the safety of the water supply for the island.
He said farmers clearing land illegally upstream of the Teluk Bahang reservoir pose the risk of contaminating the water supply, and pesticides and fertilisers can contaminate catchment streams when farms are located upstream of dams and reservoirs.
He was worried over the nature of farming on hills, especially near the Penang Hill range.
Farmers have switched from keeping orchards, where trees develop root systems and hold the soil, to vegetable crops, where the root system is simpler and the soil constantly worked over, he said.
Penang must learn from the lessons of landslides in Cameron Highlands from clearing and overbuilding on hill land to prevent such incidences here, he added.
Hills were important as these natural structures were water catchments, prevented soil erosion and landslides, acted as gene banks for flora and fauna and were green lungs for the public to enjoy, Lim, who fills the NGO quota, said at the council meeting.
He said Penang Forum, a loose coalition of NGOs, will launch a hill watch system next week.
Penang environment, welfare and caring society committee chairman Phee Boon Poh, when contacted, said the Forestry and Agriculture departments were enforcing the law on the use of pesticides in environmentally sensitive areas.
He added all land owners and farmers have been advised that the type of pesticides and fertilisers used must be approved by the Agriculture Department since 2010.