Tourism hit as Kelantan’s beaches are washed away

The Star 27 Nov 08;

KOTA BARU: Most of Kelantan’s beaches are badly eroded and this is affecting the state’s tourism plans.

Department of Drainage and Irrigation (DID) director-general Datuk Ahmad Husaini Sulaiman said that erosion is eating away at some 30km of beachfront stretching from Sabak in Pengkalan Chepa up through the Thai-Malaysia border areas.

DID has placed those areas under category one, with erosion occurring rapidly over the past five years.
Disappearing act:. Fisherman Nawi Mahmud, 75, walks along Pantai Kuala Pak Amat which is being eroded by strong waves from the South China Sea.

“To date, DID has not received any significant plans on how to arrest the natural phenomenon but we would undertake a study and recommend to the rightful authorities how best to tackle the problem,” Ahmad Husaini said after inspecting the erosion at Pantai Kuala Pak Amat in the Pantai Cahaya Bulan (PCB) coastal area.

Erosion of local beaches is cited as a natural phenomenon due to the increasingly strong waves from the South China Sea.

It is disheartening to the state since Kuala Pak Amat, for instance, has sound tourist potential having been the historic landing site of Japanese troops in World War II.

This was the Japanese point of invasion into Malaya just hours before its carriers bombed the US Pacific fleet in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.

For now, Ahmad Husaini said the DID planned to seek federal allocation to rehabilitate the Kuala Pak Amat beachfront next year.

It would also closely monitor the remaining stretches of beach to prevent the erosion from reaching coastal villages.

To date, the DID has installed two wave breakers at Sabak and in Pantai Irama, Bachok.

However, more are needed in the long-term to overcome the erosion, Ahmad Husaini said.