OMAR AHMAD New Straits Times 11 Feb 18;
Johor Baru: The sighting of a 6.5 metre crocodile at the Lido Beach area alarmed a group of maintenance workers who were working in the area yesterday.
Muhammad Fitri Dawam, 24, and three other colleagues were installing silt blinds at the Johor border when they spotted the large reptile sunbathing on the sand dunes facing the Sultan Aminah Hospital (HSA).
"Our job requires us to install silt blinds to prevent sand and foreign objects from entering neighbouring waters, once every two weeks. We have to be in the water to do so, but when we spotted the crocodile which was bigger than our boat, we decided it would be best to complete any maintenance work from the safety of our boat."
He said while he reported the reptile's presence to his employer, he had yet to inform other authorities about the crocodile's presence.
According to Muhammad Fitri, several months earlier he had seen a viral post of a crocodile on Pantai Lido but did not believe it because he thought it was edited.
But when he saw the reptle with his own eyes, he recorded video and took several photos of the beast before uploading it to his own Facebook (FB) account.
"I did not think the crocodile video I recorded would go viral and be share by more than 2,500 social site users.
"The 2-minute 51-second video featured a large crocodile slowly getting into the water after becoming aware of our presence.
"I hade no intention other than to remind myself and my co-workers in coastal areas to be careful," he said.
Meanwhile, a spokesman from the Fire and Rescue Department said it had yet to receive any reports or calls regarding the existence of the crocodile.
