KTAK-FOMCA-WWP National Water Forum 2007
22 July 2007
National Level Water Saving Campaign Water Forum “Saving Water: The Responsibility of All”, Penang Botanic Gardens, Penang, 22 July 2007.
Introduction: Water is the essence for life. There is no life without water. Yet, many people in the world (especially those living in countries blessed with plentiful water) do not realize the importance of water. Malaysians in general and Penangites in particular, are not sensitized towards water conservation. Hence, water consumption and water wastage are very high. Compared to many countries in the world, the average Malaysian uses about 300 litres of water per person per day. Penangites use more than 400 litres per person per day. This is about 4 times higher than the average consumption of people in India and 8 times the consumption of people in Africa. Hence, Penangites need to be more aware of the importance of water and need to save water, considering the fact that Penang is “Poor” in water resources. Changing global climate such as global warming and El Nino have impacted negatively upon our water resources, further exacerbating water stress. As the total amount of available water is fixed, but water is ever increasing, there will come a time in the near future whereby our water supply will not be able to satisfy our demand. As is the total number of rivers we have is fixed, and many rivers have already reached their maximum supply capacities, it is imperative that all Malaysians (individuals, domestic households, industry and businesses) control and reduce their water demands. Hence, the Malaysian Government has initiated a National Water Saving Campaign in 2006 which will run for two years. This main objective is to get all Malaysians to reduce water demand by at least 10 %. This forum is part of this national campaign in getting all Malaysians to be sensitized and involved in the programme.
The objectives of this forum are as follows:
Objectives:
(i) To create and promote greater awareness of the importance of water and water conservation
(ii) To educate the water consumers (public and industry) about the importance of water and its conservation
(iii) To change peoples’ habits from wasting water to conserving water, i.e. to change a “Water Wasting Society” into a “Water Saving Society”
(iv) To ensure that Malaysia’s water resources are sustainable in the long run as getting consumers to reduce water demand is vital for the sustainability of water resources
(v) To promote the image of KTAK, FOMCA and WWP in the area of water awareness, education and conservation
(vi) To realize the Malaysian Government’s as well as the Penang State Government’s commitments towards sustainable development of water resources.
Activities:
Activities involved speeches by the Honourable YB Teng Chang Yeow, Penang EXCO for Environment, Dato’ marimuthu Nadeson President of FOMCA, & Prof Dr Chan Ngai Weng President of WWP. All Penang State EXCO, leading Heads of relevant government departments, NGOs, schools, etc were invited. Invited speakers spoke on pertinent topics related to water saving and conservation. Other side activities would include water painting competition by invited schools, prize giving ceremony, press conference, water exhibition booths by government departments, NGOs and water companies, water guessing competitions, and food for 200 people (50 forum participants & 150 school children taking part in painting competition), water souvenir presentations (T-shirts, mugs, pens, drinking water, posters, booklets, etc. – Souvenirs will bear the logos of all three partners, viz. KTAK, FOMCA, WWP and PBAPP Sdn Bhd). The event drew about 500 people.