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ALARM’s Ecological Laboratory (A.E Lab)

Environmental watch and monitoring for better governance
Waste and pollution

Background

The sharp rise in the number of businesses in Myanmar in the last few years and the lack or the absence of an environmental regulatory framework has increasingly imposed more threats on the environment. This situation made clear that there was a need for a mechanism to monitor the impacts of investment projects and provide scientific evidence of environmental damage when it occurs.

The project

In 2013, ALARM Ecological Laboratory “A.E Lab” was established in Yangon to enhance environmental governance. It is the first laboratory in Myanmar that monitors environmental parameters in water, air, and soil. Due to an increasing demand in all states and regions for determination of pollution levels, A.E Lab has also set up a mobile laboratory to develop on-site services as well as an environmental hotline (+959 407496078) so that anyone can report any environmental-related issues. Monitoring the environment and providing accurate environmental measurements are crucial steps to make a case against the causes of pollution and to steer civil society-led environmental advocacy.

About the organization

Advancing Life and Regenerating Motherland (ALARM) is a non-profit Myanmar NGO devoted to catalyzing the democratic transition and sustainable development of Myanmar through mainstreaming climate change, environmental justice, and governance into the existing policy frameworks and institutions.

A.E Lab provides testing services for 39 water quality parameters, 18 air quality parameters, 6 soil quality parameters, and 6 microbiological parameters as well as field testing and sampling. A.E Lab also provides consultation services.
ALARM’s team conducts jar tests in order to estimate the actual discharge of each factory in the industrial zone. It plans eventually to design a centralized wastewater treatment plant to address environmental issues in Monwya Industrial Zone.
A technician from A.E Lab conducts ambient air quality testing at a tin-tungsten mining site in Dawei, Taninthayi Region. The testing results reports are compulsorily included in the environmental management plans of extractive industries projects according to the law.
A.E Lab provides water and sediment sampling and testing. This study on the water budgeting of Moe Yun Gyi wetlands in Bago Division was requested by NLD’s environmental committee and Bago regional government. The purpose of this study was to determine how the wetlands can be ecologically and hydrologically sustained to serve both irrigation and environmental functions.
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