The Malacca River and the state Water Resource Development Plan: A case study of citizen perception

Decades of high speed economic development which saw various factories being constructed without much control has polluted both the Malacca City and River to the extent that the state government has to embark on a set of radical programmes to transform the city state into a Green Technology City. Examples of the efforts made are the biodiesel programme, the solar valley programme, the electric car charging stations, and a river conservation programme. Equipped with proper and adequate legislation and regulation instruments the goals are long term sustainable environment for the state. However, the necessary time lag between policy implementation and goals realization may cause irresponsible parties to continue to pollute the Malacca River and degrade the surrounding environment. From the questionnaire survey of 200 local residents this research found that although the local citizens approved of and lauded the state environmental programmes they were of the opinion that it was crucial for the state government to concentrate more on water resource solutions. For saving the water resource before it disappears is better than searching for it after it disappears.