IT WAS extremely disheartening to hear that luxury resorts were being planned for 40ha of beach front land on Perhentian Island.

With the current decline in marine life, des-truction of coral reefs, pollution of the sea and rise in sea water temperature, do we really need this – to what is considered to be one of the finest coral reefs in the world?

In what way will a huge resort negatively affect the island’s ecosystem?

1. Increase in garbage, sewage and other waste.

2. Increase in cleaning chemicals from laundry operations being dumped into the sea.

3. Damage from construction work which includes piling, heavy vehicle tracks cutting randomly through the island, flat-bottomed barges for transporting building materials crashing into reefs at low tide, etc.

4. Increase in ground water drawn, which is already scarce.

These points are not new. When large scale development of Tioman Island was proposed and subsequently carried out, the same points were raised by environmentalists, researchers, marine biologists, the diving community and others.

What did the authorities do that time around? They conducted an environmental impact assessment. This was done to ensure that the resulting recommendations were implemented to ensure reduced environmental impact before, during and after construction.

Did it work and was it actually implemented? Take a trip to Tioman and you’ll be greeted by murky water, heavy silting and soil erosion.

I beg the developers, authorities and esteemed individuals who are the land owners of the 40ha plot of land on this gem of an island to please reconsider your plans.

The beautiful white sandy beaches, the crystal clear water, amazingly colourful marine life and variety of corals are what give Perhentian its five-star rating.

Let us not destroy that for another five-star resort.

Nanda Kumar and friends
from MalaysianUnderwater.com
via email

Source: The Sun – July 22, 2008