{"id":36927,"date":"2026-05-01T01:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.net\/?p=36927"},"modified":"2026-05-01T01:44:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:44:46","slug":"river-pollution-threatens-the-kebun-dapur-initiative-for-the-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/river-pollution-threatens-the-kebun-dapur-initiative-for-the-people\/","title":{"rendered":"River pollution threatens the ‘Kebun Dapur’ initiative for the people"},"content":{"rendered":"

TUARAN: The issue of river pollution in Sabah is now seen as not only affecting commercial farmers and livestock breeders but also jeopardising the success of government campaigns such as the Kebun Dapur Program, which is promoted to help citizens reduce living costs and enhance household food security.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Kebun Dapur Program encourages people to grow vegetables, herbs, and food crops in their backyards, requiring clean and safe water for daily irrigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the river water or nearby water sources are contaminated with sewage, chemicals, or uncontrolled discharges, it poses a risk to the health of the crops and can affect consumers who eat those products.<\/span><\/p>\n

The chairman of the public awareness campaign against river pollution in Sabah, Gundohing Simon Molubi, stated that the government’s efforts to encourage self-cultivation will be hindered if the issue of water source pollution is not addressed seriously.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The government encourages people to grow their own food to save money and increase family food supplies. But the question is, is the water source for the Kebun Dapur truly safe?” he said in a statement here today.<\/span><\/p>\n

He emphasised that clean water is a crucial element in achieving the food safety agenda for the state and the nation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, water pollution also negatively impacts commercial agricultural yields, certifications such as MyGAP and MyOrganic, consumer confidence in local food, and farmers’ efforts to penetrate premium markets.<\/span><\/p>\n

He stressed that the government and relevant agencies have a legal responsibility to monitor and enforce the protection of water sources.<\/span><\/p>\n

Relevant laws include the Public Health Ordinance 1960 Sabah, Local Government Ordinance 1961 Sabah, Sabah Water Resources Enactment 1998, and the Environmental Quality Act 1974.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is said that immediate actions such as water laboratory testing, regular monitoring, investigation of pollution sources, and prosecution of offenders must be carried out to ensure that the public does not become victims.<\/span><\/p>\n

“If the water for agriculture and kitchen gardens is contaminated, it is not just an environmental issue. It is a matter of health, economy, and food safety for the people of Sabah,” he stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sabah River Anti-Pollution Campaign calls on all parties to unite in defending the river as a vital source of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Previously, the Sabah media reported that many rivers in the state, including in Tuaran, have been polluted by various activities; however, there are no laws in place to hold the offenders accountable for the river pollution.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TUARAN: The issue of river pollution in Sabah is now seen as not only affecting commercial farmers and livestock breeders…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tempatan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36928,"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36927\/revisions\/36928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sabahnewstoday.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}