PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ASSESSMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN MALAYSIA, CANADA AND NEW ZEALAND

Abstract

In 1975, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was promulgated in Malaysia after the enactment of Environmental Quality Act (EQA) in 1974. Although the EIA is integrated for nearly five decades, the effective public participation application for EIA remained scant in the Malaysian environment. This paper provides a comparative study on public participation application for EIA in Malaysia, Canada and New Zealand. This study is administered by analysing the current EIA process and EIA legislation pertaining to the public participation for EIA in the three countries via literature review. This paper examines the similarities and differences between the three countries on their application of public participation for EIA. It is paramount to examine the current application of public participation administered for EIA in the Malaysian environment with other developed countries to induce effective public participation for EIA in Malaysia.