MalaysiaGIS.com

Source: The Star (page 20)

Science, Technology and Environment Minister Datuk Law Heng Dieng said that the station, to be run by the Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing (Macres), would enable the ministry to receive real-time data on satellite remote sensing technology.

"It would take 18 years for the Government to recover from the costs of relying on foreign countries like Thailand and European countries for such data," he told reporters after witnessing a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony between the centre and the Drainage and Irrigation Department, here yesterday.

He said tenders had already been awarded for the works, now 70% completed.

Initially, four other places- Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi and Kuantan - had been identified as possible locations for a ground station. However, they ruled out due to microwave frequency problems, he said.

On the remote sensing technology, Law said it was now being used intensively to trace negative activities such as illegal logging at forest reserves, water catchments and other protected areas.

He said an early warning system based on the technology was also being deployed to monitor the haze, hot spots and fires in the region.

The centre, set up by the ministry in 1988, had been given the responsibility to develop the technology in efforts to manage the country's natural resources, environment and national strategic planning, he said.