Indonesia, the Environment & Health: Sugar Tax, Plastic Tax & Carbon Tax?

#Indonesia #sugartax #plastictax #carbontax? "Indonesia plans to impose excise duty on plastic bags, sugary drinks and vehicle emissions with the new levies expected to net the government about $1.7 billion in additional revenue annually." There are likely fewer to challenge sugar and plastic duty/taxes, but a move on vehicle emissions could become challenging for diesel usage, which has become a rising policy for the #palmoil sector.

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. Photo credit: Antara/Sigid Kurniawan.

#KhorReports contacts in Jakarta finance see a high possibility of implementation, with a senior economic advisor also explaining that “it could happen, considering the big short fall in [fiscal] revenue.” But naysayers see it as “desperate, with a 0% chance of implementation. It’s a last gasp for Sri Mulyani, who has to go.”

Khor Reports coverage of the sugar in popular local drinks, sweetened beverages, bubble tea and juices is here: Boba Boom: The Rise of Boba and the Sugar Strikes Back. The issue of waste plastic (especially on Malaysia) is covered here: Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Waste Plastic Imports to Malaysia.

Harder and Harder to Breathe: Burning Landfills and Week-Long Fires

Remember our post on the air pollution problem in Kedah? Unfortunately, there are more news of smokey conundrums in Malaysia’s rice bowl state: a fire broke out at a rubbish dump in Jitra on 1st February 2020.

This wasn’t the first rubbish dump to go up in blazes in Kedah—a landfill in Bedong, Sungai Petani was similarly caught on fire on 20 January 2020, with firefighters struggling for more 18 hours to put out most of the flames, a task made more difficult since most of the burning waste was plastic. A week later, the fire brigade was still working to control the damage caused by the smouldering waste.

It’s disheartening to continue receiving such updates; late last year, we published a post on the air pollution issue at Cinta Sayang, Kedah, a problem that appears to be primarily due to open burning of waste plastic at processing sites, which in turn adversely affects the quality of life for residents in the area, especially health-wise. While merely a preliminary view, do give the post a read—it provides an insight as to how serious the situation has gotten and how important it is to solve it (although nobody should need any further convincing at this rate, to be perfectly honest).

#KhorReports #airpollution #wasteplastic #wasteplasticburning

Smoke Gets in My Eyes: The Case of Air Pollution in Cinta Sayang

Something is going on in Cinta Sayang. Apparently, the Air Pollutant Index (API) on the PM2.5 scale registered a 395 reading on the morning of 28 June 2019 on a local resident’s handheld air quality monitoring device; in contrast, official data shows a 67 reading in Sungai Petani. Our curiosity piqued, we’ve come up with a preliminary review on the matter.

Click here to read the full post on the smoky matter.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Waste Plastic Imports to Malaysia

In October 2018, Malaysia banned the imports of contaminated plastic wastes in effort to restrict the supply of waste plastics into the country. Despite the ban, data shows that monthly plastic waste imports is beginning to increase. The Pakatan Harapan administration has even flirted with ideas to build at least one incinerator in each state (and we have thirteen of them!).

Khor Reports has consolidated data on waste plastics issues in a dashboard, with information compiled from media reports. This provides an overall view of plastic waste imports and the concerns it has raised for the Malaysian people. The data is as at 27 September 2019, collected by a group of dedicated volunteers over a period of about two weeks.

Out of sight, out of mind, when it really shouldn’t be. Click here for the full post and the dashboard.

In New York Times Article on the Southeast Asia Trash Trade

A mention on #Malaysia #trade in #wasteplastics and concern on #incinerators in "Recyclers Cringe as #SouthEastAsia Says It’s Sick of the West’s Trash" by Mive Ives, 7 Jun 2019, The New York Times. #recycling.

An excerpt from New York Times article, 7 Jun 2019

Climate Change & ASEAN - Review of Recent Policy Issues at the 10th AIPA Caucus

At Parlimen Malaysia last week, I reviewed recent policy issues on #climatechange and #ASEAN. It was a brief lit review. For background, I also had the chance to talk to researchers from Oxford and Cambridge, to drill on certain economic questions.

All ASEAN delegates were concerned on climate risks in the region. Progress and plans mentioned by each country. Including some discussion on #carbontax, with Singapore reflecting on its implementation. Regret on low #carbonprice was noted by Cambodia. #Wasteplastics and #landfill concerns and also caution on #incinerators.

On the sidelines, a good chat with Vietnam expert on #coconuts, farmer income, high yield and #Intercropping options; regret on the income problems for younger rural families in monocrop zones of #oilpalm and #rubber.

Had a chance to meet delegates from most member states, but Thailand and Indonesia not present due to political transitions. Other working group tracks on women, children & trafficking and terrorism.

At the 10th AIPA Caucus, Kuala Lumpur, Jun 2019