More pollution at shoreline
Desiree Tresa Gasper The Star 2 Jun 10;
KOTA TINGGI: An additional two kilometres of shoreline at Pengerang here have been polluted by oil spill following a collision between two vessels at the Singapore Strait a week ago, a spokesperson from the Department of Environment (DOE) said.
The polluted shoreline was between Tanjung Pengelih and Tanjung Punggai. However, 74% of the polluted shorelines have been cleared.
“We have not identified any new oil patches as yet but we urge the public to contact us if they locate any new patch,” the spokesperson said yesterday.
She added that a total of 7,290 bags containing oil polluted sand and 19,511 litres of oil have been collected so far. “We also have about 162 workers involved in the clean up efforts. A total of 110 local fishermen are also expected to help out,” she said.
Those involved in the clean up activities would continue their work on the remaining 4.6km polluted coastline.
Members of the public are urged to contact the DOE hotline at 1-800-88-2727.
In Johor Baru, Southern Region Marine Department director Rosnan Fahtlal said a team of four investigating officers had been assigned to determine the cause of the collision between the two vessels.
“Two of the officers have been sent from our headquarters in Kuala Lumpur while the other two are from our office in Tanjung Pengelih,” he said yesterday.
Rosnan added that the investigating officers were now questioning the captain and crew members aboard the bulk carrier MV Waily.
“They have been conducting investigations for the last two days and the team will also be questioning the crewmen from MT Bunga Kelana 3 once they complete investigations of the first vessel,” he said.
The two vessels collided about 13km southeast of Changi East on May 24 causing some 2,000 tonnes of crude oil to spill into the sea.
The oil has since spread and polluted beaches along Singapore and Malaysia. He added that the team was also waiting for the cargo to be transferred from MT Bunga Kelana 3 before conducting investigations there.
Uggah: Oil spill in Singapore Strait has no lasting effect
The Star 2 Jun 10;
KUCHING: The oil spill from the collision of two vessels in the Singapore Strait appears to have no lasting effect on the affected coastal areas, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas said.
He said he visited the area last Sunday and could see the difference between one spot which had been cleaned up and the areas yet to be cleaned.
“Once the beach has been cleaned, there is no effect and no more odour of oil because the sea current is moving and there is clean water flowing in,” he told reporters at his Gawai open house at Taman BDC here yesterday.
Uggah said the affected areas had to be cleaned as quickly as possible to minimise the damage and prevent it from spreading further.
“About half the area has been cleaned and we hope to be able to complete the cleaning in the next few days,” he said, adding that the clean-up committee had mobilised about 200 people in addition to those employed by the shipping company.
On the fishermen affected by the spill, he said the government would look after their welfare.
“At the moment some of them are employed by the vessel owner to clean the area and they are paid RM50 a day,” he added.
Villagers help in oil spill clean-up
Ahmad Fairuz Othman The New Straits Times, Streets 1 Jun 10;
WHEN Malaysian tanker MT Bunga Kelana 3 collided with Grenadines bulk carrier MV Waily in the Singapore Strait last Tuesday, it resulted in an oil spill that affected the coastline of southeast Johor.
The oil spill affected a 30km stretch in Pengerang and Teluk Ramunia.
Among the affected areas were Tanjung Punggai, Sungai Rengit, Langkah Baik, Sungai Buntu, Sungai Kapal and Sungai Musuh.
A massive clean-up exercise led by the Department of Environment was launched in collaboration with the Marine Department, the police's Marine Operation Force and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
The collision occurred when the Malaysian tanker was travelling from east to west in the Traffic Separation Scheme of the Singapore Strait, 13km southeast of Changi East, at 6.03am.
About 2,500 tonnes of crude oil leaked from a 10m gash on the double-hulled tanker's port side.
AET Tanker Holdings Sdn Bhd, the owner of MT Bunga Kelana 3, had said in a statement that after the remainder of the Bintulu light grade oil had been transferred to another vessel, an assessment of the ship was conducted.
The DOE set up a response team after the incident.
However, some believe that the operation to clean up the oil sludge should have been done sooner before it affected the beaches in Pengerang.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas said the ministry had done all it could to mitigate the effects of the oil spill.
Though he said the ministry had been monitoring the problem from the first day of the incident, he admitted that there were problems with the standard operating procedures of the agencies involved in the monitoring and clean-up efforts.
"During a meeting with several agencies, we discussed the problems," he said after checking on the clean-up exercise in Pengerang recently.
Douglas said the Malaysian authorities had difficulty obtaining permission to use Singapore's air space to conduct surveillance of the oil spill.
He said the matter would be discussed at the government-to-government level.
Singapore's popular east coast beaches were also hit by oil sludge.
Douglas said the DOE was using mitigation methods to prevent the sludge from reaching fish farms at nearby rivers and beach resorts north of Desaru.
During the initial stage of the clean-up exercise, 4,000m of booms and 50 tonnes of chemical dispersants were used to stop the oil sludge from spreading.
Specialists in 15 boats were deployed to the collision site, while hundreds of others joined in the clean-up efforts at beaches along Pengerang.
The additional cleaning crew consisted of Pengerang fishermen, their family members and villagers.
Mastura Abdul Rahim, 24, was among the villagers who were paid between RM40 and RM50 per day to help scoop up oil sludge at the beach.
"I was among the first who saw the sludge when it reached the beach. I lodged a complaint with the DOE branch office here," she said, adding that her fisherman father, Abdul Rahim Bujang, also joined in the clean-up exercise.
Rahim said he lost 18 of his 20 pukat tunda nets at sea last Thursday.
He is among 400 fishermen in Pengerang who have stopped going out to sea following the oil spill.
"The oil sludge damaged my nets, which cost RM150 each, and my boat. I have not gone out to sea since the incident."
