Monday, November 14, 2011

Newsworthy - Gabriel (Green Debate Clinic)

Newsworthy posts will highlight any mention of GD/ES, their staff, students and activities in the media.

Brunei needs indicator data to predict environmental impacts accurately

Thursday, September 8, 2011

LACK of environmental indicator data in Brunei has made accurate environmental modelling impossible, said one Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) scientist yesterday.

Gabriel Yong, a researcher in the Environmental Studies Programme at UBD, was at the 'Green Debate' clinic for teams participating in this year's upper secondary and higher learning institution environmental debate.

He challenged the debating teams not to outright believe all the data they have been presented and to try and determine the truth for themselves based on the reality of the situation. "Don't trust all the data, and find out whether they are truths, half-truths or blatant lies," he told the students in the session.

"We have no data," he said, stating the country has "very little," in way of environmental indicators, citing water quality as an example. "UBD also does not have the funds to monitor the environment, and we are the research institution," he said.

Yong, in an interview with The Brunei Times, said that in terms of water quality measurements, there were samples taken regularly in Brunei River since 1988, but said that they were at very few locations and were not provided to the public.

"As scientist, we have to be very particular about the data and the sample size," he said.

Yong explained that if the data does not accurately represent reality, then predictions on environmental impact could be completely wrong.

"For water quality, most of the time the data is taken ad hoc, during a project by government authorities," Yong said, adding that they would only measure things that were easy, including pH and salinity which "does not tell us anything about pollutants".

"For air quality, there is only four stations for the whole country," he said, while questioning if it is enough to accurately represent national air quality.

He added that in terms of detail, the authorities only measure PM10, a major concern from haze in the country and that other parameters remain unknown.

He said that without measures in place, it would also be impossible to monitor heavy industries that might be causing pollution.

Yong cited projects such Pulau Muara Besar, where heavy industries set up there might claim that they were clean, but authorities would have no way to be certain because there were no monitors in place. "UBD is also considered to be 'outside' of government so we cannot gain access to these areas to monitor the situation either," said Yong.

A Jastre (Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation) representative was on hand when one of the debate team challenged the assertion that there was not enough data representing negative aspects of Brunei's environment.

The representative responded that there were two schools of thought, one that was practical and the other which was academic theory. He noted in reply that Yong's assertion might be from the viewpoint of that working in academics, which required much more precise information.

He however, did accept that in terms of baseline data, which he acknowledged was important for policymaking, is very limited in Brunei.

Last year, Jastre introduced a plan to establish a Water Quality Index system to determine the quality of water. The plan will include the establishment of 11 water monitoring stations, in addition to a completed one in Kg Saba Tengah, Kampong Ayer.

From The Brunei Times (link to online article here):

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