Kota Kinabalu: The jetty at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) at Sepanggar Bay is the first location in Malaysia to have installed the gamma spectrum water monitoring system (GSWMS) to monitor radioactivity levels in the country’s waters.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Chang Li Kang said the GSWMS at UMS was installed at the end of June.
He said the Government is planning to install the system at four more locations in the country – Langkawi, Johor, Pahang and Sandakan – in stages.
“For these four additional devices, we will do it as soon as possible,” he told reporters after making a site visit to monitor the system at UMS, Tuesday.
“The device, costing about RM60,000 each, is crucial to monitor radioactivity levels in Malaysia’s waters,” said Chan.
“After what happened with the Fukushima nuclear plant releasing treated water (into the Pacific Ocean) and the concern among the public on the ocean’s radioactivity level, we decided to install the device in our waters.
“But we advise the public not to be worried. If there is any abnormal change in the levels, we will be able to detect it fast and early,” he said, adding they will also share information with other Asean countries.
According to Chang, Malaysia became the third Asean country, following Vietnam and Singapore, to install the GSWMS.
He said UMS was chosen as the first site to install the device due to its distance with the Hainan Island in China.
“But this device is not only specifically in lieu of Fukushima but to monitor the radioactivity levels in our waters (due to activities) in China, Taiwan and Korea,” he added.
Last Friday (Aug 25), the Department of Atomic Energy (Atom Malaysia) said there has been no increase in radioactivity levels detected in the country’s waters following the release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant.
In a statement on Tuesday, Atom Malaysia said the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry took people’s concerns regarding the matter seriously, and was closely monitoring the situation.
It said the gamma spectrum water monitoring station had been set up in collaboration with the European Union to monitor any increase in radioactivity levels in “real-time” as a precautionary measure.
The country’s atomic energy regulatory body said data from the station was monitored round the clock at the National Centre for Nuclear Response Management (NCNRM) in Dengkil, Selangor.
Japan has maintained its stand to discharge the water even in light of heavy criticism and food import bans by China, North Korea and Hong Kong, and described its actions as safe.
On the declining rate of students taking up science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects in the country, Chang acknowledged this was a worrying trend for the nation.
If this continued, he said, it could jeopardise Malaysia’s ambition to become a high-tech nation by 2030.
“If we don’t have the talents in science then we can’t reach this target.
“We are in the midst of attracting industries or investments which have technology and innovation as their core and this is not the same with the labour intensive investments.
“That is why we must churn out talents or a highly-skilled workforce for this,” Chang said.
