Debated in Parliament on 5 Aug 2014.
Ms Faizah Jamal asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Ministry has in place an environment audit process of how offshore fish farms manage their daily disposal of trash, biological waste and human waste; (b) if not, what is the reason for not doing so; and (c) whether the Ministry will put such an environment audit process in place to ensure high standards of compliance for the disposal of such waste.
Madam, under AVA's fish farm licensing conditions, owners of offshore fish farms must properly dispose of the waste generated from their farms. The owners must keep their premises in good condition and ensure that the waters in and around their farms are clean and pollution-free at all times.
Fish farmers in the western Johor Straits can use the waste collection points at the Lim Chu Kang jetty while those in the eastern Johor Straits can use the newly-opened Lorong Halus jetty and its waste collection centre.
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Instead of environmental audits, AVA carries out routine quarterly inspections on all fish farms, including those in the southern and western coastal areas, to check for compliance with licensing conditions. During these inspections, AVA officers check on the types and amount of waste generated and disposed of, the frequency of disposal, the use of proper waste disposal methods and the location of the waste collection point used by the farmers. AVA also conducts ad hoc night raids on the fish farms to deter the illegal towing of fish farm waste to shore.
AVA works closely with the Police Coast Guard to keep a look-out for fish farmers discarding waste into the sea and conducts regular briefings to remind fish farmers to maintain proper waste management. AVA will take enforcement action against farms caught illegally dumping any waste into the waters.
I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I have two supplementary questions. There has been a recent report just about last week, I believe, where there were fish deaths at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve where the river turned black and there was a horrible stench coming from it. The report also stated that AVA was investigating the situation. May I ask what the result has been, if there had been any so far?
Secondly, there is also a recent article that I read where a town in America called Toledo in Ohio suffers from what is called microcystis algae. And as a result, there was terrible harm done to the drinking water and it was caused by farming, lawn and sewage run-off. Would AVA and MND take extra precautions, bearing in mind that there are variations in the weather now and the possibility of this happening may be even more severe?
Madam, I think the Member is referring to the report on 22 July 2014 where large numbers of dead fish were found in the waters of Sungei Buloh. AVA carried out its investigations and found that there were no abnormal mortalities in the coastal fish farms nearby. The dead fish were wild fish present in the waters of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserves. The NParks contractors cleared away the dead fish on the very same day, on 22 July itself. AVA is currently investigating further with NParks and NEA on the possible sources of that contamination.
On the example in the US, I will get my AVA officers to study the conditions in that area to see what learning points we can capture from that experience and ensure that we take precautionary measures to apply in the local context.
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