THIRD NREB-EPD ENVIRONMENTAL DIALOGUE, 2013

1. BACKGROUND

Jawatankuasa Perunding Bersama Pentadbiran Negeri Sarawak dan Negeri Sabah in its third meeting on 17 July 1999 at Mulu, Sarawak decided that the Sarawak-Sabah Environmental Convention had to be organized biennially and hosted alternately by both States. Since Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) Sarawak and Environmental Protection Department (EPD) Sabah are the Environmental Agency of respective States, both Agencies have been entrusted to organize the convention on a rotation basis.

Subsequently, 4 Conventions were organized and hosted alternately by both States. The Convention was attended by relevant agencies from both States and to be funded by the respective State Government. However, due to budget constraint and based on experiences of the previous Convention, both States agreed to scale down the Convention to biennial Environmental Dialogue between NREB and EPD. This would only involve Ministry of Resource Planning and Environment Sarawak, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah, NREB and EPD who are directly involved in the environmental management and protection in both States. The idea was accepted and agreed by the State Secretaries of both States as it is more practical and more focused for officers from both agencies to exchange experiences, discuss the challenges and find the strategies related to environment issues. It was agreed that other stakeholders may also be invited whenever necessary.

As such, the first Dialogue was organized by the NREB Sarawak in Kuching on 3-4 December 2009 and the 2nd EPD-NREB Environmental Dialogue 2011 was organized by the EPD, Sabah on 12-14 October 2011 at Kota Kinabalu.

2. THEME

The theme for this dialogue is “TOWARDS EFFECTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION AND ENFORCEMENT”.

NREB and EPD are the leading environmental regulatory and enforcement agencies whereby both are striving to improve and strengthen their enforcement efforts to ensure orderly development in the States. However, like any other enforcement agency, environmental enforcement is difficult tasks in view of resource constraint, increasing number of development projects annually, wide area of coverage and conflicting interests of multi-stakeholders.

Therefore, with this theme, it is hoped that the dialogue can deliberate on the related matters with a view to come in coming up with various strategies and approaches for effective environmental regulation and enforcement in the respective State.

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE THIRD DIALOGUE

The objectives of the dialogue are:

i) To strengthen the networking and collaboration between EPD and NREB as part of the efforts in enhancement of service delivery for both agencies;

ii) To share experiences and exchange information on best practices and issues related to environmental protection and management of both States;

iii) To provide an opportunity for capacity building of the staff from both agencies; and

iv) To utilize the outcomes and findings of the dialogue sessions to improve and strengthen the existing modus operandi of both agencies in carrying out their duties in environmental protection and management.

4. DATE

i) 6th – 9th October 2013

5. VENUE

i) Dialogue session, accommodations for participants and dinner (hosted by NREB):

a) Mega Hotel, Miri

ii) Place to visit (8th October 2013):

a) Niah National Park

6. GAMES (6th October 2013):

Games will be available for participants from both agencies as part of the icebreaking process and to allow them to have more chances to interact among each other.

The games are:

i) Bowling;
ii) Badminton; and
iii) Table tennis

7. PARTICIPANTS

It is estimated that a total of 80 participants will be attending this dialogue.

8. GUEST OF HONOUR

The Honourable Assistant Minister of Environment, Sarawak.