A preliminary insight into the environmental awareness of community in the vicinity of batik manufacturing units in Kelantan, Malaysia

Abstract

In response to a significant contribution of batik industries towards water pollution in Kelantan, this study sought to examine the environmental awareness of the community staying in the vicinity of batik manufacturing units in Kelantan. In this cross-sectional study, 160 participants were administered with interviewer-assisted questionnaire surveys between November 2013 and December 2013. Information pertaining to the participants’ awareness of the batik manufacturing process, nature and disposal of dyes as well as the associated environmental and health impacts due to improper wastewater discharges were recorded. Chi square and multivariate binary logistic regression model was deployed to determine the significance between the socio-demographic variables and the items assessed to explore their environmental awareness. Despite a limited awareness on the batik manufacturing process and chemical properties of dyes, more than half of the study participants were more likely to be aware of the dye disposal methods utilized by the manufacturing units as well as the environmental and health impacts of the wastewater discharges in their neighbourhood. Among the socio-demographic variables, having a formal education recorded a significant association with the nature of dye, dye disposal method, environmental and health impacts due to improper dye disposal. In a nutshell, this study contributed useful empirical insights on the current environmental awareness levels of the community near the batik manufacturing units in Kelantan to devise interventions for the cultivation of community-based surveillance.