Sustainable Management of Rivers in Malaysia: Involving All Stakeholders CHAN NGAI WENG, Professor, Geography Section, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM Penang, Malaysia ABSTRACT All over the world, including Malaysia, management of rivers is a central issue in this 21 st Century. While government has always been traditionally entrusted with the responsibility of managing rivers, increasingly, the public, NGOs, industrialists, farmers, and other stakeholders are playing a greater role. Sustainable management of rivers involves cooperation between countries and states sharing the same river basin, and cooperation between government and all stakeholders. Internationally, countries need to negotiate and use rivers as the basis for peace rather than conflict. In Malaysia, the Federal Government can initiate policies and remain in charge of governance of rivers, in consultation and cooperation with state governments. However, government must relinquish some of its responsibility on river management to all other stakeholders, viz. industrialists, entrepreneurs, farmers, communities/squatters, NGOs, educational institutions, fishermen, conservationists, tourists, the general public, etc. All stakeholders need to start taking proactive actions, even sacrifices, to manage, protect, conserve and restore our rivers so that their resources can be sustained for future use. This is where people from all levels ranging from politicians, policy makers, private companies, NGOs to individuals can play crucial roles. River management and related river issues need to involve NGOs and the people as these issues happen at the local level. Decision-making regarding solutions should be carried out at the lowest appropriate level, ideally involving all stakeholders ranging from government to the private sector, NGOs, the local community and schools. People should be the focus both in decision making as well as active “workers” involved with restoration work. The motto of “Malaysia Boleh” (Malaysia Can) involves all Malaysians. This paper discusses how all stakeholders can contribute by working together in smart-partnerships with government towards effective and sustainable management of rivers in Malaysia. Keywords: Non-Governmental Organisations; sustainable river management; government-industry- NGO partnerships; public participation; environmental conservation; drought and flood management; political-economy of rivers. 1 Introduction Rivers are the cradles of civilisation as major civilisations have developed on river banks, estuaries and flood plains. Rivers have always held a prominent place in human society. It is at the banks, confluence, estuaries and floodplains of major rivers that many great civilisations emerged. The majority of the world’s major rivers have survived the vicissitudes of time, witnessing the rise and fall of great civilisations on their banks. In Egypt, historical records indicate that not only do Egyptians worship the Nile but they also worship Hapi, the presiding spirit of the Nile (Butzer, 1976). In ancient Mesopotamia, the Babylonians worshipped the Euphrates and the Tigris as gods, both with practical value (irrigation and water resources) as well as their spiritual role (Ponting, 1991). In India, the Ganga River is sacred so much so that pilgrims make pilgrimages there to cleanse themselves (Das, 2001). In China, the Hwang Ho and Yangtze Rivers are not just the foci of civilisations but also the “sorrows” that bring massive destruction (Zhang et al., 2000). Malaysia is no different. During historical times, rivers were the hub of life with not only the major settlements lining the banks but rivers also play an important role in the economic and social life of the people (Nik Hassan Suhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman, 1998a and 1998b). Despite their vital importance, humans have largely neglected, abused and mismanaged rivers all over the world. According to Ismail Serageldin, Chairman of the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century, more than one-half of the world's major rivers are being seriously depleted and polluted, degrading and poisoning the