Malaysia, Johor: Tanjung Piai National Park - Tourism icon crying for help

Chuah Bee Kim New Straits Times 11 Aug 12;

NEED TO SAFEGUARD PARK: Wetland in danger of being hit by oil spills due to illegal offshore oil transfers

JOHOR BARU: THE Tanjung Piai National Park, which was hit by an oil spill two months ago, may be affected again if no preventive measures are put in place.

Malaysian Nature Society's Johor branch chairman, Vincent Chow, said the sudden violent Sumatra wind (a squall) causes huge waves that would bring oil spills to the shore.

The June 27 oil spill had adversely affected 5,500 mangrove trees along a 600m stretch of the coast. At least 10 species of marine life and insects were also affected.

The national park was temporarily off-limits to visitors due to the clean up work, but it has since re-opened.

Chow urged the Johor Tourism Department, Johor National Parks Corporation (JNPC), Marine Department, Fisheries Department and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency to share the responsibility of conserving what has been dubbed the southernmost tip of mainland Asia.

Besides being a Johor tourism icon, Tanjung Piai is recognised as a Ramsar wetland of international importance.

"The possibility of the area being hit by a repeated oil spill is very high due to the illegal vessel-to-vessel oil transfers in the waters off Tanjung Piai.

"These waters are along the shipping lanes between the Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor and the Jurong Port in Singapore," Chow said.

He called for mitigation measures to be put in place to prevent from any re-occurrence as clean-up jobs were not only expensive, but labour extensive.

"It is almost impossible to salvage the damage after an oil spill."

Chow also proposed the setting up of booms and oil containment devices to trap oil spills.

"A joint committee should also be formed by the relevant authorities to save the state tourism icon."

JNPC director Suhairi Hashim said many of the newly-planted mangrove trees had perished after the June 27 oil spill. Other trees which are more than 15 years old were also withering away.

Suhairi said cleaning-up work was being done continuously.

"Visitor arrivals this month stand at 6,000, which is a low figure probably due to the oil spill and fasting month.

"Since January, the park has received about 32,000 visitors. Last year, the park recorded 65,000 visitors," Suhairi said.

He said facilities such as the 50-bay car park and wooden boardwalk at the national park needed to be upgraded.

"The boardwalk has not been upgraded since 1999 and we currently have only 50 car parking bays.

"We have written to the Johor Tourism Department thrice to request for an allocation for upgrading the carpark, but there has been no reply."

The boardwalk leading to a globe structure was among the most damaged facilities during June's oil spill.