Malaysia- A Haze of Secrecy

MALAYSIA: NEW REPORT REVEALS HAZE OF
SECRECY AS CRUCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL
INFORMATION DENIED
8 February 2007

In the aftermath of the worst floods to hit Malaysia for thirty years, ARTICLE 19 and the Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) will today launch a spearheading report
entitled A Haze of Secrecy: Access to Environmental Information in Malaysia.

It’s been just three weeks since the worst floods in thirty years devastated the Malaysian population, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Victims of the floods hadreportedly experienced difficulty in accessing information on prevention measures and thereare concerns that now that aid is finding its way to the affected areas, information on aiddistribution may also not be disseminated as well as it could.

The Malaysian government has a notoriously bad track record of making environmental information available.

The haze crisis of 1997/1998 and 2005 is perhaps the most infamous example wherein at the peak of extreme haze levels caused by pollution, the Air PollutantIndex (API) was kept a State secret.

“With more than 45 countries in the world having already adopted right to know legislationand many more taking steps to this end, now is the time for the Malaysian government tobreath life into a culture of openness through the adoption and promotion of a legislativeenvironment that upholds the people’s right to know.” says Dr. Agnès Callamard, ExecutiveDirector of ARTICLE 19.

ARTICLE 19 and CIJ’s new joint report exposes the embedded culture of secrecy of theMalaysian government which envelops all levels of its administration, denying individualstheir internationally recognised right to access information.

The Official Secrets Act and other restrictive legislation is liberally employed to silence calls for the release of environmental information.

For example, the Malaysian government is throwing its investment behind thedevelopment of biotechnology, in the belief that it will generate huge profits for the bio-richstate.

Yet, despite clearly been in the public interest, the draft National Biotechnology Actalong with much information related to the development in biotechnology including healthrisks have been hidden away under the classification of the Official Secrets Act.

People are being pushed off their lands to make way for large-scale development projects butattempts to access information with which to challenge these decisions are met with barriersat every juncture.

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) provide the principal means forpeople to access environmental information on development projects which are likely toimpact on their local environment.

However, it is not uncommon for an EIA to bedisseminated after the development project in question has been agreed and there is littleopportunity for reversing this decision or for participating in processes by which alternativescan be discussed and explored.

Moreover, the cost of obtaining an EIA is often so prohibitivethat it is literally economically unviable for affected communities to obtain a copy.The report will be launched at a landmark event to be attended by a number of media,academics, government officials and civil society activists.

The event will also lend support tothe campaign for the adoption of right to know legislation in the state of Kelantan.

TheDeputy President of Kelantan, Timbalan Menteri Besar, has publicly stated his commitmentto ensuring the law is adopted and it is hoped that the State can lead the way for subsequentStates and ultimately the central government to adopt their own right to know legislation.The report makes the following recommendations:


Legislation


· An access to information law which is consistent with international standards should
be adopted and implemented as a matter of priority.

· Secrecy legislation and legislation restricting the free flow of information should be
reviewed for compliance with international standards and amended and/or repealed as
necessary. In particular, the Printing Presses and Publications Act should be repealed
and the Official Secrets Act should be substantially revised.

· The proposed whistleblower legislation and Biosafety Bill, which should impose
stringent disclosure requirements on both government research departments and
private corporations, should be adopted as a matter of urgency.

· Existing environmental legislation should be reviewed and information disclosure
provisions should be added or strengthened.


Developing a culture of openness.

Access to information legislation is an important first step in promoting openness, which must
be backed up by measures to combat the culture of secrecy and to promote a culture of
openness. Measures should include, among other things, the following:

· Public officials should receive training on openness and the provision of information
to the public.

· Government departments should immediately establish mechanisms to facilitate
sharing of information and to promote transparency, without waiting for access to
information legislation to be adopted.

· Information on contracts, demand and supply studies, and related matters should be
made available to the public to ensure that politicians are held accountable for how
natural and public resources are used.

Environmental Impact Assessment

The practice regarding Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Malaysia needs to be
greatly improved if it is effectively to serve the public’s right to know. The following
measures should, as a matter of urgency, be addressed:

· EIA reports should be made public as soon as they are available and the cost of
obtaining an EIA should not be prohibitive and, in particular, should not exceed the
cost of producing or supplying a copy.

· Civil society and the general public should be provided with effective notice of
opportunities to participate in EIA processes, and provided with sufficient
information to enable them to do so effectively.

Pollution and natural disasters

The public has a right to be informed of pollution and other environmental risks that can have
a damaging impact on health. At a minimum, the following steps should be taken:

· Information on what to do in case of an environmental emergency should be widely
disseminated to the public on an ongoing and consistent basis in order that, in the
event of such disasters, the public will be equipped to take the most appropriate form
of action to safeguard their own and others’ safety.

· In the event of an environmental disaster, the government should take all necessary
measures to ensure that information and updates are disseminated as quickly and
consistently as is possible. This will avoid people having to rely on rumours and to
“second-guess” on the nature and outcome of the disaster. It will also facilitate the
ability of the public to assist in the alleviation and resolution of the situation.