19/7/06 9The Star)   -  KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has come out with strict guidelines to stop oil palm mills from discharging effluents into its rivers. 

Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman said on Wednesday the state’s Environmental Protection Department would take over the enforcement task from the federal Department of Environment which faced manpower shortage.

Musa said palm mills were now required to set up sludge or holding ponds for their effluence discharge instead of discharging the wastes into the rivers, which include Sungai Kinabatangan.

He said 20 of 71 oil palm mills in Sabah were now complying with the guidelines while the remaining ones would have a year to do so.

Musa said that the measures would not only help in checking pollution problems but also ensure that rivers remained a source for people’s livelihood, wildlife sanctuaries, water catchments and tourism.

The Chief Minister also said the measures were taken after an environmental study conducted between 2000 and 2005 indicated that effluence discharges by oil palm mills were contributing factors for river pollution in the state.