Malaysia has lifted
a ban on the import of
polypropylene and polyethylene, materials used in the
plastics industry. The decision signals a temporary
truce in its trade war with
neighbouring Singapore,
which claimed that its petrb-
chemical industry had suf
fered a blow because of the
Malaysian move.
The 2 sides have already
taken their dispute to the
World Trade Organisation
(WTO) in Geneva - the first
such action to be brought to
the notice of the new trade
body. Although the
Malaysian government
explains its decision to lift
the plastics ban by saying
that its local industry no
longer needs protection, it
intends to press ahead with
its case at the WTO.
Malaysia has
finally been jolted out of its
somnolence regarding environmental awareness. The
discovery of 41 barrels of
cyanide - enough to kill 7
million people - on a
Pankor Island beach in late
March has brought the
country's lax laws on hazardous chemicals under
severe scrutiny. Malaysian
environment minister, Law
Hieng Ding says that policy makers are trying to
devise a better mechanism
for monitoring industrial chemicals.
Malaysian environtalists, however, would like
to see more grassroots-level
action being implemented to
prevent the future dumping
of lethal chemicals. They
have demanded that Chem
tax, the company responsible
for the dumping, be charged
with attempted murder,
In the long run, they believe, the only answer is setting
up a central toxic waste treament plant. "The case has
underlined the need to have
the plant quickly," says
MaIalaysian environmentalist
Gurmit Singh.
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