Speaking to reporters after officiating the World Environment Day celebration at Taman Tugu here today, Ismail cited the park, which was previously a well-maintained forest area, but has been turned into a garbage dump by irresponsible parties.

“Therefore, changes to laws related to the environment need to be expedited in an effort to prevent environmental destruction.

“We have been talking about toughening these laws for a long time. But I have not been able to get enough information on the matter so far.

“On Wednesday, (at the Cabinet meeting) I will emphasise that changes to the environmental laws need to be expedited because we know a lot of encroachment, among other violations, occur,” he said.

Ismail said, apart from that, the people must continue to look after the environment, as the world was currently experiencing climate change with the negative effects already being felt.