Who do we blame for water woes?

I refer to the letter, Who do we blame for water woes? by S. Param in which he alluded that the current water shortage cannot be totally caused by the unpredictable weather as a consequence of global warming. Politicians playing their usual politics have also been a significant reason, he maintains, and the 6 year delay on the Langat-2 dam is evidence of that.

While I agree with him that this could be true, the Langat-2 tunnel project is just a project made necessary due to decades of blatant exploitation of our natural resources and wanton destruction of our limited forest reserves and catchment areas that has brought on the current plight.

In addition to taking steps like the Langat2 tunnel to overcome our water shortages, we must also be vigilant to other exploitative efforts by insensitive politicians and ever greedy business cronies to inflict further long term damage to our environment with direct consequence to our future ability to have sufficient drinking water.

In today's report in The Star, Better jams now than no water, environmental groups have expressed serious concern at the imminent expressway project KLORR that will cut through Selangor's water catchment areas and forest reserves. The project, if pushed through by unscrupulous politicians and business cronies, will have the material effect of reducing our water catchment capacity, not to mention the destruction of pristine forests and the loss of diminishing wildlife. The Forest Research Institute also expressed its consternation in an earlier report FRIM comes under threat

Malaysians, and politicians, must wake up to the fact that we cannot continue to have more "Langat-X" type projects to keep our citizens satiated. The destruction of forest reserves (set up for the good of future generations) will cause drastically reduced water retention in the local situation, and will even contribute to global warming in the international context.

Progress and development must be made in tune with Mother Nature, or we suffer its wrath!