City's rapid growth stifling environment 

The river is polluted and the rubbish is piling up. And the municipal authorities in Kuching, Malaysian Borneo, have decided to introduce a radically new environmental management system aimed at tackling the city’s steadily growing environmental problems.
In parts of the River Sarawak where the brown water stands slack, the surface has become covered with a fatty film that is littered with discarded rubbish: cans, plastic bags, fast food packaging etc. From the colourful houses on stilts along the shore, waste water spills directly into the river. And only a few hundred metres away around the next bend, children are bathing.

Like most towns and cities in Malaysia, Kuching, the capital of Sarawak on Borneo, is experiencing explosive growth. And, as in so many other places, this growth is exacting a serious toll on the environment.

Major strain on the river

"Just 30 years ago, only about 15 per cent of the population of Sarawak lived in towns and cities. Today the figure is 50 per cent and still rising. This places a major strain on the environment, especially the river and waste disposal," explains Chong Ted Tsiung, head of the Natural Resources Environment Board, the leading environmental authority in Kuching.

Traditionally, the Kuching city authorities have sought to tackle environmental problems through specific projects. A current Danida-supported project, however, is attempting to bring about a fundamental change in attitudes through the introduction of an environmental management system in Kuching.

Systematic effort

"The problem with the project-oriented approach to environmental problems is the lack of overview or correlation," comments COWI's Ib Larsen, Chief Technical Adviser for the Urban Environmental Management System (UEMS) project.

"Often one hand may not know what the other is doing. In a worst-case scenario, different projects can end up negating one another. If massive environmental problems are to be avoided in the future, there is a need for a much more systematic effort."

Published: 27.10.2004
By: Janne Toft Jensen, jaje@cowi.com


Facts about Kuching 

The city

Kuching is the capital of Sarawak, one of two states on Borneo. The city, which has a population of about 500,000, is experiencing rapid growth.

Climate
Situated close to the equator, the city has a tropical climate. It rains a lot throughout the year, with 3000-5000 millimetres of rainfall annually. All over the city there are open drainage channels up to two metres deep. The drainage channels allow rainwater – and much of the city's untreated waste water – to be run off into the river.

The river
The River Sarawak and a number of its tributaries flow through Kuching. Despite the river suffering serious pollution, people still fish in it and children use it as a playground and swimming pool.

UEMS - Urban Environmental Management System
The environmental management project is being financed by Danida. The total figure earmarked for the project is DKK 15.6 million. Due to be completed in November 2006, the project began in 2002 as follow-up to a previous project entitled Sustainable Urban Development (1999-2002). The goal is the realisation of sustainable development in Kuching.