A review on the Malaysian laws in curbing noise pollution in residential areas / Aqielah Rozaini … [et al.]

There is a growing number of factories, construction sites, urban highway constructed around residential and community areas around the city which has inevitably caused major noise pollution problems to city dwellers. However there is little attention given by the government or individual regarding this matter. In this research, most issues regarding noise pollution in Malaysia has been highlighted. All these issues regarding noise pollution show that noise pollution can be considered as a universal issue. The objective of this study is to review the effectiveness of Malaysian laws in curbing noise pollution in residential areas. The study has been conducted by way of a legal research which is mostly library based. The laws which are applicable to this study are the Local Government Act 1976 and the Environmental Quality Act 1974. Simultaneously, both laws had been scrutinized in detail to identify the ineffectiveness of curbing noise pollution in the country. Referring to the Environmental Quality Act 1974, the law itself focused on the environment issue in general. In the Local Government Act 1976, it is more on the power of local authorities to take an action against the wrongdoer. In addition, laws which govern noise pollution in other countries are also referred as guideline in order to improve the Malaysian laws. At the end of this study, some recommendations has been suggested such as to amend existing provision to be more specific and detail, the participation of public in various councils, to improve noise mitigating strategy especially in residential areas and the involvement of the government in the administration in the process of controlling the pollution in Malaysia.