Bernama 1 Jun 10;
KOTA TINGGI, May 31 (Bernama) -- The oil spill in Pengerang waters and on its beaches as a result of a collision between two vessels last Tuesday, has not only affected the livelihood of fishermen but also business at a beach resort in the area.
Tanjung Kapal Beach Resort marketing manager, Nazaruddin Nasir, 30, said the oil spill had resulted in the cancellation of more than half of the bookings for rooms at the resort.
"We received a lot of bookings for a two-night stay beginning last Friday but most of the bookings were cancelled after news of the oil spill spread," he lamented when met at the resort, which opened for business in 2006 and has 19 guest rooms.
The resort is popular with locals and Singaporeans, as well as for school children's holiday camps.
Nazaruddin said the oil slick which reached the beach last Friday gave out a foul smell and caused throat irritation.
Meanwhile, cleaning work was seen being carried out in the Sungai Rengit area involving government agencies like the Southern Region Marine Department, and the private sector.
Its Operations Unit chief Zulkarnain Karim said 71 staff of the department were involved in the cleaning work from morning until 5pm, but this evening it stalled due to heavy rain and high tide.
The Department of Environment in a statement said to date, 2,680 bags of sand with oil slick and 18,911 litres of oil had been collected in the clean-up.
"The oil spill has polluted 16 kilometres of beach area, but 8.5 km have been cleaned up by 230 volunteers," it said.
The areas being cleaned up are Tanjung Pengelih-Tanjung Stapa, Tanjung Stapa-Tanjung Kapal, Tanjung Kapal-Tanjung Datuk, Tanjung Datuk-Tanjung Bulat and Teluk Ramunia-Tanjung Menyusup.
Last Tuesday, the MV Waily, registered in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, was on its way to Hong Kong when it collided with MT Bunga Kelana 3, registered in Port Klang and carrying 61,858 tonnes of crude oil, causing 2,000 tonnes of the oil to spill.
The incident happened four nautical miles south-west of Tanjung Stapa, Pengerang and 3.7 nautical miles from Singapore waters.
-- BERNAMA
Oil Spill Causes Minimal Damage To Malaysian Shore
Bernama 1 Jun 10;
KUCHING, June 1 (Bernama) -- An oil spill in the waters off Pengerang, Johor from the collision between two vessels in the Singapore Strait last Tuesday caused only minimal damage to the Malaysian shore.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas said most of the spill was carried by waves to the Singaporean waters.
Malaysia and Singapore adopt a standard operating procedure in dealing with the oil spill crisis, he told reporters who visited him at his residence in conjunction with the Gawai Dayak celebration here Tuesday.
He said a clean-up operation was carried out at the affected areas by about 200 people, including those hired by the vessels' owners.
The collision between a Malaysian-registered tanker, MT Bunga Kelana 3, and a bulk carrier in the Singapore Strait, occurred four nautical miles southwest of Tanjung Stapa, Pengerang and 3.7 nautical miles from Singapore.
The master of the tanker estimated that 2,000 tonnes of crude oil could have spilled into the sea from the collision.
-- BERNAMA
16km of shoreline polluted
The Star 1 Jun 10;
PENGERANG: The Department of Environment estimates that 16km of shoreline have been polluted by the oil spill from the collision of two vessels in the Singapore Strait.
DOE director-general Datuk Ros-nani Ibarahim said clean-up efforts were in progress and over 18,911 litres of oil had been collected so far.
Clean-up activities were going on along the shoreline of Tg Pengelih, Tg Stapa, Tg Kapal, Tg Datuk, Tg Bulat, Teluk Ramunia and Tg Menyusup, she said in a statement yesterday.
“A total of 230 people are involved in these operations and we will be recruiting more people to help accelerate the work,” she said.
The owner of the Malaysian vessel involved in the collision too has hired fishermen to help in the clean-up.
Volunteers from the villages were also helping to clean up the shores and they have been advised to use proper safety gear.
Rosnani said that the Southern Region Marine Department was monitoring the movement of the oil slick.
Members of the public can contact the DOE hotline at 1800-88-2727 if they have any information on the oil slick.
Meanwhile, in Kota Tinggi, the owner of the Malaysian vessel has also agreed to compensate the fishermen who were forced to stop fishing activities.
Pengerang Fisherman Association chairman Abu Bakar Mohammad said a meeting with relevant authorities, including the vessel owner, was held yesterday to discuss the compensation.
“We do not know the exact amount that we will be paid,” he said. “We have been told that all the fishermen would be interviewed individually by the insurance company to determine the losses in-curred,” he added.
Abu Bakar said deep-sea fishermen in the area earned between RM500 and RM1,000 a day while fishermen who conducted activities closer to the shoreline earned bet-ween RM80 and RM500 a day.
He said the DOE had informed the fishermen that they would likely be allowed to begin fishing again within the next three days.
At least 1,400 fishermen have been affected by the spill.
Oil spill causes health worries
Austin Camoens, The Star 1 Jun 10;
KOTA TINGGI: Villagers here are worried about their health and have stopped their children from going to the beach following an oil spill which has polluted the coastline of Pengerang here.
Some villagers who live near the coast had experienced nausea and had to bear with the pungent odour of oil for the past six days.
Housewife Latipah Abdul Jalil, 49, said that the odour was overpowering but there was very little that could be done.
The mother of four said this was the first time she had experienced such an occurrence and was worried as the oil spill had affected most of the surrounding area.
“I have already told my two youngest children to stay away from the beach.
“I do not want them to fall ill from exposure to the oil spill,” she said at Tanjung Ayam yesterday.
Another housewife, Junaidah Pajar, 30, echoed Latipah’s sentiment, saying that she also told her two children not to go to the beach for at least two weeks.
“I don’t want them to play in the polluted area. Who knows what kind of infection or illness they might catch.”
Junaidah added that she came to Tanjung Ayam to assist in the clean-up of the beach so that life in the town would be restored to normal.
Meanwhile, Kampung Lepau village head Mat Tahir Hanati, 59, said that many villagers had come to him with concerns about the oil spill.
“We have more than 300 villagers here and many are fishermen,” he said, adding that most of them had not gone out to sea for a week.
He said many villagers complained about the bad odour while others, especially the fishermen, had express-ed concern about their livelihood.