The Star 12 Mar 11;
BUTTERWORTH: The discovery of several thousands of dead fish in Pantai Bersih in Bagan Ajam, Butterworth last week had caused anxiety among locals on the possibility of tsunami hitting the shores.
Fisherman Mohd Zahari Che Mohd Noor, 39, said the dead fishes included sembilang, gelama, todak, bawal, kerapu singa, kertang and ikan lembu.
“I wondered if the incident was similar to the tragedy on Boxing Day in 2004 when tsunami struck several Asian countries.
“During the incident, many dead fishes were washed ashore,” he said in an interview.
State Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh however said the fishes had probably died due to sand dredging works in the North Channel.
He said the state Fisheries Department and State Department of Environment which conducted the investigations discovered changes in the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in the water where the fishes were found.
“We have ruled out chemical contamination as we did not find any chemicals when we inspected the beach stretch between Pantai Bersih and Kampung Gajah.
“There was also no illegal chemical discharge from the factories in Mak Mandin and Prai,” he said after opening Pacific West Sdn Bhd’s effective micro-organism (EM) mudball-throwing at Sungai Pertama, Taman Tunku in Seberang Jaya yesterday.
Earlier, Golden Fresh brand and corporate affairs manager Tang Cho Sun led some 200 Pacific West Sdn Bhd employees in throwing 11,000 EM mudballs into Sungai Pertama.
Tang said the move was part of the com-pany’s initiatives to heighten awareness on environmental conservation as well as to help promote sustainability of marine resources.
