National Landscape Policy To Help Mould Garden Nation
The government is drawing up a national policy to guide landscape development in line with the effort to shape Malaysia into the most beautiful garden nation by 2020! Apparently it is now the government's desire for the National Landscape Policy to outline more rational approaches to maintain the beauty of nature while protecting landscape resources as invaluable national heritage and beauty assets for future generations.
While I laud the government's belated awareness and interest in nature's precious resources, just talking about it is of no help. Neither is appointing the wrong people to do the job. Imagine if Khir Toyo or some other known ravager of everything green is appointed as landscape development czar? That will be the end of our natural resources for the next century or two.
The policy should take into account the three vital socio-cultural, environmental and economic aspects. It is hoped that the policy will help in the effort to enable Malaysians incorporate the landscape factor into a practice and way of life to ensure optimal balance between developmental needs and preservation of the environment.
In this matter, the focus should be more on functional landscape development such as the greening of cities, development of public parks and recreational areas as well as the conservation and maintenance of natural assets.
I know as of late I've become a bit of a 'doubting Thomas', but painful lessons learnt over the years are not easy to forget. The government has a predilection for doing something 90% correctly and at the final stretch they bungle big time. The mechanics behind crucial decisions is at times mystifying and many of us end up wondering 'what went wrong?'. Either the homework done prior to embarking on an endeavour is found wanting, the personnel selected are below par, the implementation process is flawed, the follow-up is non-existent or a combination of the above.
The simple truth is that we badly need to place our natural resources in 'intensive care' and allow the raped and ravished 'patient' to recuperate. However this should be done by experts not laymen. Just as in a hospital where we wisely allow doctors to do their duty, so too in this healing phase of our natural resources we should appoint the equivalent of 'doctors' not gardeners or god forbid, pirates and plunderers.
While I laud the government's belated awareness and interest in nature's precious resources, just talking about it is of no help. Neither is appointing the wrong people to do the job. Imagine if Khir Toyo or some other known ravager of everything green is appointed as landscape development czar? That will be the end of our natural resources for the next century or two.
The policy should take into account the three vital socio-cultural, environmental and economic aspects. It is hoped that the policy will help in the effort to enable Malaysians incorporate the landscape factor into a practice and way of life to ensure optimal balance between developmental needs and preservation of the environment.
In this matter, the focus should be more on functional landscape development such as the greening of cities, development of public parks and recreational areas as well as the conservation and maintenance of natural assets.
I know as of late I've become a bit of a 'doubting Thomas', but painful lessons learnt over the years are not easy to forget. The government has a predilection for doing something 90% correctly and at the final stretch they bungle big time. The mechanics behind crucial decisions is at times mystifying and many of us end up wondering 'what went wrong?'. Either the homework done prior to embarking on an endeavour is found wanting, the personnel selected are below par, the implementation process is flawed, the follow-up is non-existent or a combination of the above.
The simple truth is that we badly need to place our natural resources in 'intensive care' and allow the raped and ravished 'patient' to recuperate. However this should be done by experts not laymen. Just as in a hospital where we wisely allow doctors to do their duty, so too in this healing phase of our natural resources we should appoint the equivalent of 'doctors' not gardeners or god forbid, pirates and plunderers.
posted by The Malaysian. at 7/09/2006 12:56:00 PM
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