SYNOPSIS

Could Malaysia fulfil its ambition to be an industrialised country if it cannot guarantee the sustainability of its water resources?  In the past decade, we have begun to see trends and anomalies in our weather that signal that the threat posed by climate change is real and upon us.  It requires us to take a hard look at the state of our water resources and how me manage them. Water security is defined as the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems.  To ensure water security, issues such as technology, management framework, human capacity and governance need to be addressed and the gaps identified and eventually, bridged. IWRM has been endorsed as the national strategy for achieving this goal hence, several initiatives underpinned by the principles of inclusivity; cross-consultation and consensus-building have been initiated under the 11th Malaysia Plan to achieve water security. These include drafting of a Water Resources Law and implementation of programmes such as the National Water Balance Study and National Flood Forecasting and Warning Program. Ultimately, successful management can only be determined by effective governance at both federal and state level.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Dato’ Ir. Nor Hisham Bin Mohd Ghazali is the Director of Water Resources and Hydrology Division at the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (DID). He currently oversees the implementation of the National Water Balance Program and the National Flood Forecasting and Early-Warning Program - two primary water resource initiatives under the federal government’s Water Security agenda.

Dato’ Ir. Nor Hisham has served the DID for 30 years in various technical and managerial capacities. He began his career as a soil investigation engineer before moving on to coastal engineering and becoming a shoreline management specialist. In senior management, Dato’ Nor Hisham has served as Deputy Director of DID Selangor and the Director of DID Johor. From 2012 to 2015, he was director of the SMART Tunnel Stormwater Management Control Center in Kuala Lumpur heading the flood early-warning and flow diversion operations.

Dato’ Ir. Nor Hisham holds a B. Sc. Civil Engineering from California State University (Chico) USA and a M. Eng. (Coastal and Maritime) from Universiti Technology Malaysia.

He is a Professional Engineer registered with the Board of Engineers, Malaysia (BEM) and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia.  He is also Chairman of the Malaysian Water Partnership (MyWP) and a Vice-Chairman of the Malaysian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (MANCID).