Odour Nuisance and the Need for Effective Complaint Measures in Malaysia: A Case Study of a Public Institution in Penang

Odour regulations worldwide highly regard odour complaints to indicate compliance to an Environmental Act regarding odour emissions. However in Malaysia, odour nuisance is rarely reported, and on the rare occasions complaints are made, they are usually passed straight to the mass media. Is the rarity of odour complaints in Malaysia an indicator of an odour-free environment or are there different reasons? This research is undertaken to understand the impact of prolonged odour to the residents and the initiatives taken to make known their plight. Questionnaires were given to students at a public institution in Penang, Malaysia, along with an odour descriptor classifying various smells into 8 major odorants. All respondents agreed there has been a lingering malodour ever since they enrolled at the hostels, with 63 % finding the odour to be quite annoying and smelling offensive (93 %). The nearby factories (100 %), farms (61 %) and sewerage systems (39 %) were perceived as major contributors to the malodour. The smell is usually evident during nighttime and is worst during windy conditions (89 %) and after rain (53 %). Although the students were apparently disturbed by the continuing odour and had access to various forms of communication facilities, none voiced a formal complaint about the issue. The lack of well-defined complaint channels, procedures and the mechanism of addressing the registered complaints were found to influence the respondents' inclination to make complaints. Unlike other contaminants like COD, PM10, heavy metals etc., odour is very subjective in nature and becomes a nuisance only when cumulative annoyance on the people from repeated events of odour emissions are evident, hence the need for improvement in odour complaints management data for Malaysia are recommended.