Compliance to the environmental conditions in EIA: A case study of housing and commercial development in Sabah

• Main Authors: Hazlyn Liaw, Vun, Bonaventure Leong Wan
• Format: Proceedings
• Language: English; English
• Published: Faculty of Science & Natural Resources, UMS 2023
• Subjects: SF91 Housing and environmental control; T175-178 Industrial research. Research and development
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/39236/1/ABSTRACT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/39236/2/FULL%20TEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/39236/; https://www.ums.edu.my/fssa/index.php/research/conference-publication

One of the major development activities in Sabah is housing and commercial development. Many elements are involved in implementing these activities, such as opening and clearing of an area, earthworks, hill cutting, reclamation and stone quarrying. These activities can cause significant environmental issues such as water pollution from improper handling of oil as well as from uncontrolled sedimentation from the project site, air pollution from open burning and dust from the construction site, noise and many more if they are being carried out without any control measures. Because of this, housing and commercial development are categorised as “prescribed activities” under the Environment Protection (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 2005, it is required to submit a Proposal for Mitigation Measures (PMM) or an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to the Environment Protection Department (EPD) for approval before the implementation. Some of the main non-compliance aspects identified post-EIA based on the EPD inspection records, public complaints and compliance reports submitted by the project proponents are issues related to slope stabilisation, control of oil and scheduled waste, control of surface runoff and water quality pollution, and control of solid waste and biomass. Further research is carried out through interviews and surveys with targeted stakeholders to determine the main aspects contributing to these matters.