A review on integrated water resource management (IWRM) in Malaysia

Water resource is getting insecure and turns to conflicting issues if it remains uncontrollable. One of the critical problems that hinder the sustainability of water resource in Malaysia is the water crisis management. In this regard, Malaysia have adopt Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) as a holistic approach in order to resolve water crisis management as well as overcome some water issues such as water excesses, water shortage, water pollution, threat from climate change and issues in current state of governance. In view of that, many policies, plans and programmes are being conduct to ensure the IWRM approach can be effectively implement

Potential of best management practices (BPMS) projects for effective integrated water resource management

Nowadays, water pollution was viewed as a crucial issue and if not properly managed, it can threaten human health along with environment. Being so, various efforts have been taken by the government of Malaysia to ensure the Integrated Water Resource Management can be effectively implemented. In supporting the effective implementation of this approach, a Best Management Practices (BMPs) projects were carried out. Unfor tunately, the implementation of these projects still remains in doubt and was unfamiliar by many parties. Therefore, this paper examined the outcome of BMPs Projects in the perspective of river water quality in Malaysia. By using content analysis technique towards 12 year period of data from the Malaysia Environmental Quality Report, starting from year 2002 to the year 2014, four projects were selected in order to identify is there any diffe rence, especially on the river water quality status before and after BMPs Project have been carried out. The result of the studies revealed that, the BMPs projects have a potential in improving water quality status and there is a need to actively promote this project to the various stakeholders involved so that it can minimize Integrated Water Resource Management issues as well as enhancing the implementation

The role and significance of roof top gardens towards sustainable urban development in Malaysia

Rooftop garden is a modification of modern landscape which has the potential to contribute towards sustainable urban development. Many studies have highlighted the role of rooftop garden as a tool to assist urban area to solve environmental issues effectively. Among its greater impact towards the environment are include mitigating urban heat island phenomenon, energy saving, maintaining thermal comfort, managing storm water and also improving the ecological value of the site through preserving habitat for small species of animal especially birds and insects. These roles are well documented and recognized in Europe as well as several Asian countries especially Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. However, this article attempts to explore the role and significance of this landscape in Malaysia and how this landscape can assist cities to improve the living environment of urban dwellers. It is hoped that the research information from this article is useful to promote rooftop garden or green roof as one of the way to create a healthy environment living and a balanced between the physical development and preservation of urban green space in the city

Critical review on suburban transit orientation development

Transit orientation development always been associated as the transport solution for traffic congestion especially in the city. Nevertheless, there is a gap in the research in the suburban area. This paper discusses about the possibility to apply the concept in the suburban area as the solution for urban sprawling. Therefore, four principles have been identified in order for a transit orientation development suit in the suburban necessity. The principles are being central area, density and mixed land uses; the connection between the central area and the transit; developed based on need of density and designed by specific development agency; funding mechanism to allow transit orientation development. The conclusion is transit orientation development is not applied for problem solving, but to avoid future issues

The Vertical Land Use Zoning for Underground Space Development in Malaysia

There is a demand for the development of underground space beneath alienated land by a third party other than the surface landowner. Arguments frequently arise because the surface landowner asserts that his rights extend to ownership extension, while the other party wishes to develop the underground space without interfering with the rights of others. Due to Malaysia's absent of land use zoning for underground space, the rights to develop underground space are ambiguous. Using a qualitative approach, this study will examine the role of land use zoning in assisting the development of underground spaces. Thematic analyses revealed three interconnected elements: underground land use zoning, standardisation of land category depths, and a buffer zone for surface and underground space ownership. Additionally, a comparative study was conducted between Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Finland in order to determine the optimal strategy for zoning underground space land uses. At the conclusion of this paper, vertical land use zoning was also proposed

The conceptual framework for analyze efficiency in land tax administration system

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework of land tax administration and collection efficiency that can be used to analyze and discuss tax performance. Relevant literature was sourced using keywords pertaining to tax administration, tax collection and tax efficiency variables to identify the constructs of the framework. The paper then developed and proposed a conceptual model to study the efficiency of land tax system by land administration institutions. The findings revealed that eighteen elements of land tax administration and collection efficiency were identified, namely, administrative strategy, awareness creation, comprehensive assessment, compliance strategy, anti- corruption practice, human resources management, monitoring and evaluation, law enforcement, leadership style, private participation, public enlightenment, rules and regulations, service delivery, tax audit practice, tax agencies, collection strategy, use of ICT, and tax reforms and amendment. The proposed conceptual framework may assist future research in providing a structured approach for assessing tax administration and collection performance. The framework may also assist tax authorities in designing strategic planning to improve the land tax system. An acceptable and specific measurement of tax administration and collection efficiency has been proposed and tested as a tool for analyzing and discussing land tax performance variables. This framework can help policy makers to think about the right combination of strategies in specific contexts

The need for land use assessment in enhancing the implementation of integrated water resource management (IWRM)

Over 20 years, there has been an explosive growth of interest in the application of Integrated Water Resource Management among majority of developing and developed countries in settling various type of water issue. Unfortunately, the effective implementation of this approach still remains in doubt. Fragmented water resources legislation, complexity of constitutional framework on water resources management, lack of coordination among stakeholders and overlapping of authorities in managing water resources are among the issues that challenge the Integrated Water Resource Management implementation. Therefore, this paper attempts to review the broad literature regarding what is still wrong with this approach and propose the solution on how to enhance the current implementation. Since, there is still no authorized framework available to be used by the stakeholders involved in assessing land use practice and comparing the effectiveness of the implementation progress between states in Malaysia, this paper briefly concludes that there is a need to develop a framework for Land Use Assessment as a work performance guideline especially to the various stakeholders involved. Therefore, it is hope that this finding would offer better improvement to water resource management through effective, good governance and practical ways

Managing sewage treatment facilities using geographical information system application: a user requirement analysis in state of Penang, Malaysia

Rapid development of economy in Malaysia and the large city scale expansion has led to increase in number of domestic sewage and industrial water waste. In managing sewage treatment facilities, Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK) has developed the Integrated Geographical Information System (IGIS) to help them in decision making process. The face to face interview method with IGIS users has been used in getting the feedback on examining the main attribute data needed and then analyze it by using content analysis. It is conducted by updating the required attribute data into the IGIS application and removing unrelated attributes. In addition, the spatial information that can help to improve the IGIS application also be included in new version. Based on the findings of this paper, the improvement of this information will help the IWK to manage this sewerage system more effectively and to control the increasing number of sewerage treatment plant (STP). The upgraded IGIS application improves the management efficiency, management level and decision-making capacity of sewage treatment in state of Penang and provide a good demonstration and reference in sewage treatment infrastructure in others city

considerations on developing urban underground land in Malaysia: a review

More than half of the world population nowadays lives in urban areas and it is not impossible this figure will reach 70% in 2050. The rapid growth of world civilization will have a significant impact on the way humans live in the future. The impact of that, more countries demand a higher standard of living, the world must provide more food and greater energy and mineral resources to sustain this growth. Moreover, the needs of space are highly demanded with the great pressure especially on housing and infrastructure. Many urban problems occur due to the higher demand than supply such as traffic congestion, air pollution and lack of green space for development. As a result of these circumstances, the other considerations are using non-other than going to the third dimension of the city as a final frontier in urban development. Looking on positively for the underground development for infrastructure, it’s important for Malaysia move one step forward by considering expanding the usage of underground space into many categories. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to investigate the present and future uses of underground land in Malaysia. In order to achieve it, it will identify the current uses of underground land and examined the potential planning for the development. This investigation attempt to explore the future of underground land in wider aspect in order to develop sustainable underground land