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Research Article
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Environmental Problems in Malaysia: A View of Contractors` Perception |
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Rawshan Ara Begum
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Joy Jacqueline Pereira
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ABSTRACT
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The aim of this study is to highlight contractors` perception
on various environmental problems and examine relative importance of each
environmental problem as part of an overall construction waste management
and environmental strategy for developing appropriate policies in Malaysia.
The data in this study is based on contractors registered with construction
industry development board (CIDB) of Malaysia and analysed by using mean
score model. The findings revealed that contractors are concerned about
all components of the environment and perceived the most important environmental
problems which are deforestation, water pollution, air pollution and ground
water contamination as well as soil erosion. In response to these problems,
government and other stakeholders should implement various actions and
measures to alleviate environmental problems. In addition, contractors
and developers also need to be included environmental protection measures
in their construction projects.
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INTRODUCTION
In Malaysia since last two decades, the extensive building and infrastructure
development projects have led to an increase in construction waste material
generation (Begum et al., 2007a). However, construction wastes
which represent a greater proportion of total solid waste generation in
the country (Begum et al., 2006) and create greater problems such
as illegal dumping should receive greater attention. A number of environmental
effects is potentially caused by waste management (Tam and Tam, 2006;
Barnard and Olivetti, 1990; Begum et al., 2007b) and all of them
should be properly controlled. Waste management affects environment through
land use and pollution with hazardous substances that escape into air,
water and soils. In recent years, waste reuse and recycle have been promoted
in order to reduce wastes and protect environment (Caplan et al.,
2002; Shen and Tam, 2002; Faniran and Caban, 1998; Petts, 1995), but the
effectiveness of their application has been suggested of limitation largely
because the conditions for applying these approaches were not provided
(Chun et al., 1997). These conditions include proper site location
and equipment for waste sorting out, good experience in waste recycling
operations, trained supervisors and employees, knowledge of secondary
materials markets and knowledge of environmental and safety regulations.
However, very few contractors have spent efforts in considering the environment
and developing the concept of recycling building materials (Kartam et
al., 2004). Because contractors rank timing as their top priority,
their effort is always focused on completing the project in the shortest
time, rather than the environment (Poon et al., 2001). Thus, the
present study highlighted contractors` perception on the various environmental
problems and examines the relative importance of each environmental problem
as part of an overall construction waste management and environmental
strategy for developing appropriate policies in Malaysia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Survey design and sampling method: The data in this study is based
on contractors registered with construction industry development board
(CIDB) of Malaysia. Purposive random sampling method was used focusing
on the contractors who were involved in general building and construction
activities. Data was collected through interviews between October, 2003
to March, 2004 from contractors in the Klang Valley, specifically in Kajang,
Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya and Seri Kembangan. The final survey was based
on 130 samples of contractors that represent 2% of the total registered
contractors in Selangor. Interviews were based on a set of questionnaires
that was pre-tested and modified before being used in the survey.
Analytical model: The study employed mean score model to examine
the relative importance of contractors` perception among various environmental
problems in Malaysia. The data also analysed by using simple descriptive
statistics such as sums, averages and percentages as well as t-test. The
mean score model is as:
Where:
Msi |
= |
The mean score to the environmental problem i |
Xj |
= |
The opinion scores such as 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Score 4 indicates
very worried, 3 indicates worried and 2, 1, 0 indicates not worried,
not very worried and no opinion as well |
Nij |
= |
The number of respondents who give the problem i for the score Xj
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N |
= |
Total number of respondents |
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 represents number and percentage of the respondents
who gave specific score to each environmental problem. For each environmental
problem,respondents (contractors) are asked to give their opinion by selecting
one of five scores such as 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 For the environmental problem
of air pollution, most of the contractors (about 63%) indicates that they
are worried, followed by 22.3% indicate very worried, 10% not worried
and only 4.6% not very worried about the air pollution in Malaysia. The
findings also reveal that majority of the contractors are worried for
all environmental problems as mentioned in Table 1;
63% for air pollution, 56.2% for deforestation, 55.4% for lack of separate
construction waste landfill, 54.6% for soil erosion, 53.1% for noise pollution,
50.8% for both water pollution and lack of sanitary landfill, 49.2% for
supply of natural resources reduction and 46.2% for ground water contamination
as well.
The study also shows mean score to examine the relative importance of each
environmental problem in Malaysia (Table 1). The results found
that the highest mean score is 3.06 for deforestation problem and the lowest
mean score is 2.64 for lack of separate construction waste landfill, which indicate
the most and least important environmental problem according to the contractor`s
perception. Contractor`s perception to the most important environmental problem
includes water pollution, air pollution, ground water contamination as well
as soil erosion.
Table 1: |
Contractors` perception to the environmental problems |
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***Indicates significant at 0.01 level |
On the contrary, contractor`s perceptions to the least important
environmental problem are reduction in supply of natural resources, noise pollution,
lack of sanitary landfill. It shows that contractor`s perceptions to the environmental
problems are significantly different at 0.01 level among contractors in the
construction industry. This result is also echoed by other studies in Malaysia
and other countries of the world. Awang et al. (1998) also demonstrated
that in Malaysia, many environmental issues and problems have been identified
requiring urgent attention. The list includes air pollution, water pollution,
soil erosion, loss of natural habitats for both endemic and endangered fauna
and flora, solid waste disposal and animal husbandry waste management. Erdogan
(2005) showed that waste problems seemed to be serious environmental problems
at the Olimpos National Park in Turkey. Poon (2000) reported that the waste
generated by the building and demolition of construction projects forms a large
proportion of environmental waste in Hong Kong. Uher (1999) suggested that construction
activities have a significant impact on environment across a broad spectrum
of off-site, on-site and operational activities. Off-site activities concern
mining and manufacturing of materials and components, transportation of materials
and components, land acquisition and project design. On-site construction activities
relate to the construction of physical facility, resulting in air pollution,
water pollution, traffic problems and generation of construction wastage.
CONCLUSION
The findings of the study reveal that contractors are concerned about
all components of the environment and perceived the most important environmental
problems which are deforestation, water pollution, air pollution and ground
water contamination as well as soil erosion. In response to these problems,
government and other stakeholders (CIDB or Master Builders Association)
should implement various actions and measures to alleviate the environmental
problems. In addition, contractors and developers also need to be included
environmental protection measures in their construction projects as Malaysia
has experienced phenomenal economic growth in the last two decades. It
has undergone a major structural transformation, moving from a agriculture
to manufacturing-based economy, with significant social changes. This
rapid development has brought about significant impacts to the natural
environment. Development, therefore, cannot confer lasting benefits unless
environmental considerations and related ecosystems are protected as integral
parts of development planning and decision making. This can only be done
by formulating appropriate policies and programmes to ensure development
proceeds hand in hand with sound management of the environment.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research is part of the research project entitled Materials
Security and Waste Management for Industrialised Building Systems (IBS)
funded by the Construction Research Institute Malaysia (CREAM), on behalf
of the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) of Malaysia. The
project is implemented by the Institute for Environment and Development
(LESTARI) of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The contribution of the research
group to this article, in particular Prof. Chamhuri Siwar and Assoc. Prof.
Dr. Abdul Hamid Jaafar, is gratefully acknowledged.
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