Malaysia Should Not Take For Granted Its Abundance Of Clean Water, Says Pairin

KOTA KINABALU, March 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, which is blessed with abundance of clean water, should not take for granted that freshwater will always be available as the global warming is evidently taking its effect, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan said.

He said climate change in the country had shown negative impacts on human habitats including water resources.

"It will have major impacts on the availability of water for growing food and on crop productivity in the decades to come.

"The livelihoods of rural communities as well as food security of city populations will be at risk, but the poor people will be the most vulnerable," he said in his speech when opening the State Level World Water Day Conference, here today.

Pairin, who is also Infrastructure Development Minister, said the theme for this year's World Water Day -- "Water and Food Security" -- was timely to remind the people and the government to take serious measures with regard to the impacts of global warming.