15 Oct (Sun): R.U.M. clean up and 28 Oct (Sat): R.U.M. at the Parks Festival
Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) Initiative
Youth for Our Ocean - Marine Clean Up, 7 October 2017
Psychedelic Nature
Bird Race 2017, with NSS at Sungei Buloh Wetlands 8 Oct
Art in Wetlands
Asian Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) @ Pasir Ris
Monday Morgue
Channel NewsAsia 8 Oct 17;
SINGAPORE: A water pumping system malfunction led to the flooding of the MRT tunnel between Bishan and Braddell stations and the delay of train services on the North-South Line (NSL), according to a statement by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Sunday (Oct 8).
A torrential downpour caused a section of the tunnel between the two stations to be flooded on Saturday afternoon, halting service on half the NSL - from Ang Mo Kio to Marina South Pier - for more than 3 hours.
Train services in both directions were suspended between Ang Mo Kio and Newton MRT stations for almost 20 hours before they resumed at 1.50pm on Sunday.
Preliminary investigations have indicated that water entered the tunnels through a "portal opening" near Bishan MRT station where rail tracks that are above ground descend underground, LTA said.
"Under normal circumstances, rainwater runoff accumulated in the adjacent storm water sump pit would have been siphoned off by a system of pumps," said LTA.
However the water pumping system malfunctioned, causing rainwater to overflow from the collection pit into the tunnel and to collect at the tunnel's lowest point, between Bishan and Braddell stations.
As a safety measure, transport operator SMRT immediately deactivated the trackside power supply, said LTA.
It added that the pump system has since been repaired, and that investigations into the incident are ongoing. Checks have also been carried out on other portal pump systems located along the NSL and East-West Line.
Officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and national water agency PUB worked through the night along with LTA and SMRT staff members to clear water from the flooded tunnel. SBS Transit was also on standby to support their efforts.
"Affected trackside equipment was subsequently inspected, cleaned, replaced and tested before passenger services resumed," said LTA.
In a Facebook post, SCDF said that the water was cleared at 11am on Sunday.
In its statement, LTA said that it was also investigating the small trackside fire which happened between Marina Bay and Raffles Place MRT stations on Saturday evening.
NSL train disruption: Malfunctioning water pump system to blame for flooded tunnel
Today Online 8 Oct 17;
SINGAPORE — A water pumping system that broke down was to blame for the MRT underground tunnel flooding that completely shut down train services along six stations on the North-South Line (NSL) from Saturday evening to Sunday (Oct 8) afternoon, affecting thousands of commuters in one of the worst outages since 2011.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) revealed this in an update Sunday evening, although it said it was still looking into how this had happened. Details on when the water pumping system, which should have siphoned off rainwater buildup in an adjacent sump pit, was last maintained were not given.
The malfunction allowed water to overflow from the storm water sump pit during a torrential downpour on Saturday afternoon, and enter the tunnel through the rail tracks where trains from Bishan MRT station go underground towards Braddell MRT station.
SMRT, which operates the NSL, was forced to deactivate the trackside power supply as a safety precaution, halting services from Ang Mo Kio to Newton, both ways, from 5.33pm. The clearup of the flooding in the tunnel involved officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and PUB working overnight alongside LTA and SMRT officers, and took nearly five hours longer than initially hoped. Normal service resumed at 1.50pm Sunday, after the water pumping system was repaired, and trackside equipment were inspected, cleaned, replaced and tested.
The LTA said checks have also been conducted on other tunnel portal pump systems located throughout the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWL), the Republic’s two oldest and busiest MRT lines.
SCDF gave the public the first glimpse of the incident when it released a set of pictures on Facebook showing its personnel wading in almost knee deep water in pitch dark conditions as they worked to clear the water through the night on Saturday.
Their operation concluded after the water in the tunnels were completely cleared at approximately 11am on Sunday.
Before the cause of the incident was released by the authorities, commuters wondered why the flood protection works, such as barriers at entrances to keep out floods below 1.5m, carried out at 35 existing stations — including Braddell and Bishan — had failed. They also expressed concern that another downpour would result in another outage, especially during the work week, and given that heavy thunderstorms are forecast on Monday morning and the coming days.
The weekend’s unprecedented incident of a train disruption caused by flooded tunnels is possibly the worst disruption since December 2011, when over 200,000 commuters were affected by a major service disruption along the NSL over two days.
On Dec 15 that year, an estimated 127,000 commuters were affected by a major service disruption along the NSL from Marina Bay station to Braddell station.
At that time four trains stalled because of a misalignment between the train’s current collector shoes and the power rail, also known as the third rail. The trains draw locomotive power from the third rail through the train current collector shoes. As there was a misalignment, the trains were unable to draw power and thus stalled.
Two days later, another service disruption took place on the same line during the morning and affected about 94,000 commuters. During this disruption, five trains stalled after encountering similar mechanical problems. SMRT was only able to resume service around noon a day later.
SMRT restores train services on NSL after flooded tunnels cause disruption for over 20 hours
Today Online 8 Oct 17;
SINGAPORE —Train services between Newton and Ang Mo Kio stations on the North-South Line (NSL) have resumed, SMRT said on Sunday (Oct 08), about 20 hours after rain water flooded tunnels and crippled train operations.
In an update on its Facebook page, SMRT said that train services in both directions resumed at 1.50pm.
“This follows an all-out, overnight effort to clear water in the tunnels between Bishan and Braddell MRT stations,” said SMRT, adding that teams from the Singapore Civil Defence Force, PUB, Land Tansport Authority and SMRT worked jointly to pump out water from the tunnels.
On Saturday night, teams from SMRT and LTA also conducted network-wide checks on MRT tunnels.
“SMRT thanks the various agencies for stepping in to assist since yesterday. In addition, the Singapore Police Force assisted with traffic control and crowd management along roads and at affected stations, and SBS Transit provided additional buses for the bridging bus services,” it said.
“We are very sorry for the inconvenience commuters had to bear this weekend.”
This weekend's transport chaos began around 5:33pm on Saturday, when SMRT halted train services between Bishan and Toa Payoh MRT stations "as a precaution" due to flooding in the tunnel from Bishan to Braddell MRT stations, following a heavy downpour. In a separate incident, a small fire on the trackside in the tunnel between Marina Bay and Raffles Place MRT stations was also reported, though the flames later died out on its own.
The tunnel was reportedly flooded despite flood prevention measures having been improved recently. Currently, flood barriers at 35 underground MRT stations have been completed across the network.
Also posting on its Facebook page on Sunday afternoon, SCDF said it received a call from SMRT at approximately 7.07pm on Saturday evening requesting assistance for a flooding situation in the tunnels between Braddell and Bishan MRT Stations.
Releasing the first set of official images following the incident, pictures showed SCDF personnel wading in almost knee deep water in pitch dark conditions as they worked to clear the water.
The SCDF said: “In a protracted overnight operations, SCDF Emergency Responders worked closely with the engineering teams from LTA, PUB and SMRT to pump out the water from the affected areas.”
It added that at approximately 11am on Sunday, the water in the tunnels had been completely cleared and SCDF has concluded its operations.
Commuters interviewed by TODAY welcomed the resumption of services, while adding that long term improvements are needed.
Mrs Koh, 55, said when interviewed at Bishan station: “I’m happy for everyone that the service has resumed”.
“Over the years, flooding has been well controlled in Singapore in my opinion. For something like this to happen, I think it is (a) very big (deal),” she said.
Her son, Mr Koh, 27, added: “It has become sort of like a gamble. Every time you take the train, you have no idea like whether it is going to come. People are slowly moving to alternative methods of transport like Grab.”
Mr Nam Hayul, 16, hoped that commuters can be more understanding.
“The delay is not on purpose from SMRT’s end… Although it has affected almost everyone. Hopefully, they can improve on their system.”
In an earlier update just after 10am on Sunday, SMRT said that the rain water that flooded the tunnels and crippled operations from Saturday evening is "almost cleared".
"We are working towards full resumption of North-South Line train services as quickly as possible," SMRT had said.
Initially, SMRT planned to re-open services between Newton and Ang Mo Kio stations at 9am on Sunday.
Train services on the NSL from Jurong East to Ang Mo Kio, and from Newton to Marina South Pier stations in both directions were unaffected.
The disruption is possibly the widest outage since December 2011, when over 200,000 commuters were affected by a major service disruption along the NSL over two days.
On Dec 15 that year, an estimated 127,000 commuters were affected by a major service disruption along the NSL from Marina Bay station to Braddell station.
At that time four trains stalled because of a misalignment between the train’s current collector shoes and the power rail, also known as the third rail. The trains draw locomotive power from the third rail through the train current collector shoes. As there was a misalignment, the trains were unable to draw power and thus stalled.
Two days later, another service disruption took place on the same line during the morning and affected about 94,000 commuters. During this disruption, five trains stalled after encountering similar mechanical problems.
SMRT was only able to resume service around noon a day later.
Timeline of NSL disruption due to flooded MRT tunnel
Channel NewsAsia 8 Oct 17;
SINGAPORE: A torrential downpour on Saturday (Oct 8) afternoon wreaked havoc on train services on the North-South Line (NSL), causing a section of the tunnel between Braddell and Bishan MRT stations to be flooded.
Service on half the NSL - from Ang Mo Kio to Marina South Pier – was halted for more than 3 hours. Train services in both directions were suspended between Ang Mo Kio and Newton MRT stations for almost 20 hours before they resumed at 1.50pm on Sunday.
Here’s a look at the timeline of events:
SATURDAY
5:33pm: Train services halted between Bishan and Toa Payoh MRT stations after a section of the tunnel between Bishan to Braddell MRT stations flooded following a heavy downpour.
5.36pm: SMRT tweets that “due to a track fault”, there is no train service from Bishan to Toa Payoh towards Marina South Pier.
It adds that this is not linked to a project to upgrade the signalling system along the NSL.
5.55pm: An SMRT train captain reports a small fire on the trackside in the tunnel between Marina Bay and Raffles Place MRT stations. SMRT later says the Singapore Civil Defence Force was activated within minutes to Marina Bay. However, the fire had died out by itself, SMRT says.
6.05pm: SMRT announces on Twitter that train services in both directions between 13 stations from Ang Mo Kio to Marina South Pier are suspended. For safety reasons, North-South Line train services between Ang Mo Kio and Marina South Pier are not available.
7.32pm: SMRT gives first confirmation that the NSL train services were disrupted due to “water in the tunnel from Bishan to Braddell MRT stations”.
9.22pm: Train services between Newton and Marina South Pier are restored.
10.45pm: SMRT says train services from Newton to Ang Mo Kio stations in both directions are not available till end of service on Saturday. It says engineers will carry out network-wide tunnel checks throughout the night.
SUNDAY
6.09am: Service between Newton and Ang Mo Kio stations still not restored. SMRT says it is striving to resume service at 9am.
8.32am: SMRT says work to clear water in the tunnels between Bishan and Braddell MRT stations is still in progress and the effort requires more time.
10.09am: The water between Braddell and Bishan MRT stations is “almost cleared” thanks to overnight efforts from teams from the SCDF, PUB, Land Transport Authority and SMRT.
1:52pm: SMRT announces that train services in both directions between Newton and Ang Mo Kio MRT stations resumed at 1:50pm.
Engineers will deploy several empty trains on the tracks between Newton and Ang Mo Kio for final safety checks before passenger services resume, SMRT says.
1.56pm: SCDF releases first photos of the flooded MRT tunnels and says the water was cleared from the tunnel at 11am. It received a call for assistance from SMRT at 7pm, it adds.
5.07pm: A water pumping system malfunction resulted in flooding between Bishan and Braddell stations, according to preliminary investigations by the Land Transport Authority. The pump system has since been repaired, it adds, and investigations are ongoing.
Bishan, Braddell MRT stations among 35 flood-proofed in recent years
Today Online 8 Oct 17;
SINGAPORE — The unprecedented flooding in MRT tunnels along the North-South Line that halted services along a stretch of stations for some 20 hours over the weekend has thrown up questions of what had gone wrong, and whether a repeat could happen.
Operator SMRT said on Saturday (Oct 7) evening that the flooding at neighbouring MRT stations Bishan and Braddell “occurred during torrential rain this afternoon”.
But the two stations were among 35 underground MRT stations across the network to have had flood protection measures installed since 2012.
The flood-protection measures put in place include the installation of barrier systems — similar to what is done in Hong Kong’s MTR stations — at several points in each station to keep flood waters below 1.5m out. Glass panels, vent shafts and other openings were also sealed to make them watertight, while escape staircases were raised.
Earlier this year, the Land Transport Authority said that “with the completion of these works (at the 35 stations), all current and future MRT projects, including those on Downtown Line and Thomson-East Coast Line, will meet the requirements for flood protection as specified in PUB’s Code of Practice for surface water drainage”.
In 2006, after an early morning downpour, the Novena MRT station had waterlogged floors and a dripping ceiling. The water, which flooded the floor by a height of 5cm, appeared to have come from a nearby construction site.
While train services were not affected at the time, staff from other stations arrived to shelter commuters with umbrellas and mop up the mess. To prevent the water from damaging the electrical systems, the escalators, fare gates and lift were switched off.
NSL disruption: Water pumping system malfunction at Bishan MRT station caused tunnel to flood, says LTA
Yuen Sin Straits Times 8 Oct 17;
SINGAPORE - A malfunction in the water pumping system at Bishan station caused water to collect in the MRT tunnel, contributing to train service disruption along the affected stretch of North-South line on Saturday (Oct 7) that lasted close to 21 hours.
In a statement to the media on Sunday, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that preliminary investigations showed that water had entered the tunnel through the portal opening near Bishan MRT station, where above ground rail tracks transit underground, after a torrential downpour.
"Under normal circumstances, rainwater runoff accumulated in the adjacent storm water sump pit would have been siphoned off by a system of pumps.
"Yesterday, the water pumping system malfunctioned, resulting in rainwater overflowing from the storm water sump pit into the tunnel opening and accumulating at the lowest point of the tunnel, between Bishan and Braddell stations," said an LTA spokesman.
SMRT immediately deactivated the track side power supply as a safety measure. The pump system has since been repaired.
Trains in operation at Bishan MRT station at 3.20pm on Sunday (Oct 8). Water had entered the tunnel through the portal opening near the station. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Checks have also been conducted on other tunnel portal pump systems located throughout the North-South and East-West lines, added the LTA spokesman.
Detailed investigations into the cause of the disruption are ongoing. The disruption affected thousands of commuters travelling on a large stretch of the North-South Line from Ang Mo Kio to Marina South Pier for more than four hours on Saturday night.
The disruption was also made worse by another incident, a track side fire between Marina Bay and Raffles Place stations. LTA said that the fire was unrelated to the earlier incident, and it is investigating its cause.
While much of the train service was eventually restored on Saturday, the two-way service between Newton and Ang Mo Kio resumed only on Sunday at about 1.50pm.
LTA said that officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force and national water agency PUB worked through the night alongside officers from the LTA and SMRT officers to clear the water, with SBS Transit also on standby to support the recovery efforts.
"Affected track side equipment was subsequently inspected, cleaned, replaced and tested before passenger services resumed," said LTA.
During the service disruption, free regular bus and bus bridging services were activated, with more than 40 buses from SMRT and SBS Transit deployed to provide bus bridging services, it added.
Experts call for more measures after North-South Line MRT disruption
They suggest having more checks and a backup system after pump malfunction results in flooding in tunnels
Felicia Choo, Yuen Sin Straits Times 9 Oct 17;
Transport experts have called for more measures to be taken to prevent a repeat of a nearly 21-hour disruption of North-South Line train services over the weekend, one of the worst here since 2011.
A malfunction in a water pumping system had caused flooding in the MRT tunnels, which contributed to the disruption.
Experts said more checks and having a backup system could prevent a repeat of the incident.
Thousands of commuters on a 13-station stretch of the North-South Line, from Ang Mo Kio to Marina South Pier, had to delay their plans or make alternative travel arrangements when services were affected for more than four hours on Saturday night.
The disruption stretched further yesterday, when services between Ang Mo Kio and Newton stations remained down before they were restored at 1.50pm.
In a statement yesterday, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said preliminary investigations showed that water had entered the tunnels between Bishan and Braddell stations through a portal opening near Bishan MRT station - where above-ground rail tracks transit underground - after a torrential downpour on Saturday afternoon.
MRT tunnels are equipped with pumps, which are supposed to kick in when water enters.
Under normal circumstances, rainwater run-off accumulated in the adjacent storm water sump pit - a hole designed to collect water - would have been siphoned off by a system of pumps, said the LTA.
But on Saturday, the water pumping system did not work, causing rainwater to overflow from the storm water sump pit into the tunnel opening and accumulate at the lowest point of the Bishan and Braddell stretch of the tunnel.
SMRT immediately deactivated the trackside power supply as a safety measure, and the pump system has since been repaired.
Detailed investigations into the cause of the disruption are ongoing, said the LTA.
The disruption on Saturday was made worse by another incident - a trackside fire between Marina Bay and Raffles Place stations that later went out by itself.
The LTA said the fire was unrelated to the earlier incident, and it is investigating its cause.
National University of Singapore professor Lee Der Horng, who specialises in transportation systems, said the weekend disruption "could have been avoided".
He said the malfunction could be due to insufficient maintenance or testing of the water pumping system, adding: "SMRT should identify critical systems and should have redundancy in place, so if the first-line equipment fails for whatever reason, the backup system can just kick in."
Singapore Institute of Technology assistant professor Zhou Yi suggested that SMRT consider first installing back-up pumping systems at the transit areas between the underground and overground sections of the tunnel, subject to conditions and cost limits, to prevent similar incidents from occurring.
He added that the frequency of checks on the pumping and underground drainage systems may need to be stepped up during the rainy season.
"However, it is good to see that the buses were arranged effectively... It is also good to see the joint effort from various parties, including LTA, SMRT, PUB and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF)," he said.
Train operator SMRT, in an update on Facebook at 1.52pm yesterday, said the resumption of train services followed an "all-out, overnight effort" to clear water in the tunnels between Bishan and Braddell stations.
SMRT said it worked with teams from SCDF, national water agency PUB and LTA to pump out water from the tunnels, an operation that SCDF said was completed at around 11am yesterday.
Affected trackside equipment was inspected, cleaned, replaced and tested before passenger services resumed. Checks were also conducted on other tunnel portal pump systems located throughout the North-South and East-West lines, said the LTA.
When The Straits Times visited Bishan MRT station at around 7.30am yesterday, about 30 commuters were seen queueing for the bridging bus service at the bus stop outside the station. SMRT staff were present to guide them.
One of the commuters, Mr Alvin Chong, 53, had to take a bridging bus from Bishan to Newton.
Mr Chong, who is self-employed, had already been affected by the breakdown on Saturday while out with friends - he ended up taking a bus from Beach Road to Buona Vista.
"You get more frustrated as you experience more (of the disruptions)," he said.
Christopher Tan Straits Times 9 Oct 17;
Last Saturday's massive rail disruption caused by a torrential downpour is yet another reminder of how crucial it is for Singapore to prepare itself for climate change.
It also raises questions on systems in place in the rail network to deal with a common issue in the tunnels: water.
From most accounts, rainwater from last Saturday's storm - which looks likely to recur in the days ahead - entered the North-South Line's tunnels via the opening in Bishan, where the line surfaces to go above ground.
It is not a new phenomenon, even if the severity of the downpour may have been among the worst.
In such cases, when water gets into the tunnels, pumps below the tracks are supposed to kick in to evacuate the deluge.
As preliminary findings show, the pumps malfunctioned. The question here is: Why? And if they had worked, would they have been able to cope with the deluge?
Granted, the pumps are located below the tracks and are hard to service. Hence, they must be extremely robust and maintenance-free. And they must be tested periodically to ensure that they are still in good working order.
If it is a capacity issue, then the Land Transport Authority (LTA), which now owns all operating and fixed assets on the line, should beef up the auto-drainage system as soon as possible.
Of course, the perennial fiscal debate on whether to spend money to prepare for that 50-year storm will arise yet again, but with the weather becoming more erratic as we speak, the more relevant question is whether we can afford not to.
Look to Tokyo as an example. It has installed a multibillion-dollar mega flood-drainage system, which is the world's largest. It will cope with anything, short of a catastrophic tsunami.
Why? Because the cost of that low-probability storm it is preparing for will be far higher than the bill for the infrastructure.
In rainy Singapore, we have taken similar, if smaller, steps to avert the outcome of a changing climate. We have raised the coastal road in Changi, so that the rising sea will not affect our airport nearby.
We have installed the Marina Barrage. And since the Orchard Road flooding, we have upped our drain maintenance.
But last Saturday's incident shows that we need to do more.
If it is just a matter of pumps, it would be fairly simple to address: repair, replace or redouble.
But if the assessment is that no amount of pumps would have been able to cope with last Saturday's storm, then we may need to come up with new solutions.
Indeed, the LTA completed its flood-mitigation measures for the MRT network recently. The authority was not available to say why these did not work this time, but suffice to say, the measures have been shown to be inadequate.
Last Saturday may have been the first time that floods disrupted MRT service here. But it was a disruption that ranked among the most severe, with no service on our most heavily used sector for close to 21 hours.
The extent of damage to trains and equipment has yet to be determined. The only small mercy was that the disruption did not occur during a weekday peak. But if appropriate steps are not taken, it would be only a matter of time before this scenario arises.
The last thing we want is packed trains stuck in a tunnel with rising water. And a fire sparked by a moisture-induced short circuit.
Lighting strikes are double the average in shipping lanes
The Economist 7 Oct 17;
MODERN, broad-beamed merchant vessels are well able to withstand the rough and tumble of the waves, but sailors still prefer to avoid storms at sea if they can. Containers may come loose in heavy weather and there is always a chance of lightning knocking out communications. It is therefore ironic that some storms may be caused by ships themselves. That, at least, is the conclusion reached by Joel Thornton of the University of Washington, in Seattle, and his colleagues in a paper just published in Geophysical Research Letters. They demonstrate that lightning strikes the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea almost twice as often along shipping lanes as it does other areas of these waters.
Dr Thornton and his team considered 1.5bn strikes recorded in this part of the world by the World Wide Lightning Location Network (an international collaboration led by Dr Thornton’s colleague, Robert Holzworth) between 2005 and 2016. As the map shows, those strikes that happened over the ocean were concentrated in places most plied by ships. In particular, the shipping lane that passes from the south of Sri Lanka to the northern entrance of the Straits of Malacca, and thence down the straits to Singapore, positively glows with lightning. (Its westward extension to the Suez canal was outside the study area.) So do the lanes from Singapore and the western part of Malaysia that head north-east across the South China Sea.
Neither changes in vertical wind shear nor differences in horizontal air movements seem likely to be causing this concentration of thunderstorms, for other measurements suggest that these weather-modifying phenomena are the same inside shipping lanes as they are in neighbouring parts of the atmosphere immediately outside those lanes. Nor does it seem plausible that the ships themselves (admittedly made of metal, and also the tallest structures on what is otherwise a flat surface) are responsible for attracting all the extra strikes involved. Though the area of the lanes is small compared with the whole ocean, it is vast compared with the area actually occupied by vessels. Most of the extra bolts are hitting the sea rather than craft sailing across it.
Particle accelerator
The most likely explanation is particulate pollution emitted by the ships using the shipping lanes. Marine diesel burned offshore is generally high in sulphur, and its combustion produces soluble oxides of that element which act as nuclei for the condensation of cloud-forming droplets. Typical marine clouds in unpolluted areas are composed of large droplets and do not rise to high altitude, but Dr Thornton and his team reckon that smaller droplets, of the sort that condense around oxides of sulphur, might more easily be carried upward by convection—forming, as they rose, into towering storm clouds that would act as nurseries of lightning bolts.
As to what can be done about this extra lightning, change may already be in hand. At the moment, standard “bunker” fuel has an average sulphur content of 2.7%. From 2020 that should fall to 0.5% if refiners and shipowners obey rules being introduced by the International Maritime Organisation, the body responsible for trying to impose order on the world’s shipping.
Ships are also being sailed more efficiently, often by slowing them down, which reduces the amount of fuel consumed per nautical mile. That is how Maersk Line—one of the world’s biggest container-ship operators—has cut its fleet’s fuel consumption by 42% since 2007.
On top of this, ship propulsion is becoming more efficient, as heat-recycling systems and new types of engine are introduced. In a few decades, therefore, the storminess of shipping lanes may have returned to normal. In the meantime, for any who may doubt humanity’s ability to affect the weather, Dr Thornton’s work provides strong evidence that it can.
AIN MOHAMED RADHI New Straits Times 8 Oct 17;
KUALA LUMPUR: Several districts in the country will experience heavy rains until next month, during the fair weather’s transition into the monsoon season.
Meteorological Department director-general Alui Bahari said the transition would lead to localised downpour, thunderstorms and frequent strong winds.
“Thunderstorms and strong winds are expected to occur from the evening until early night at most districts in the west coast states and interiors of the peninsular, as well as west coast of Sabah and central Sarawak,” he said when contacted today.
He said in September, Chuping Meteorological station recorded the highest amount of rainfall since 1995 at 389.3mm.
Alui said the public had been advised to be more alert on the weather changes and make early preparations for all eventualities.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar was reportedly to have said changes in the weather are expected to unleash major floods in several parts of the country.
The public can obtain latest information on the weather at the department’s website www.met.gov.my, Facebook and Twitter pages, myCuaca mobile application or contact its hotline at 1-300-22-1638.
Expect heavy downpour till next month
razak ahmad The Star 9 Oct 17;
PETALING JAYA: The inter-monsoon season has begun, bringing more frequent downpours and thunderstorms to the Klang Valley and parts of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, including flash floods.
As of yesterday, water levels at several measuring stations in Selangor, Melaka and Sarawak exceeded the alert level.
The Meteorological Department said the inter-monsoon period, which started on Oct 6, was expected to last until early next month.
“Heavy rain and thunderstorms, as well as strong winds, in the early evening will occur more frequently in most west coast states and the interior of the peninsula, the west coast of Sabah and, western and central Sarawak,” it said in a statement.
This could cause flash floods in parts of the Klang Valley and the northern states on the west coast of the peninsula, such as Perak, Penang and Kedah, he said.
“Once the northeast monsoon begins in early November, it will be the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, as well as the northern states on the west coast that start to experience heavy rain,” he said.
On the likelihood of the La Nina weather phenomenon taking place towards the end of this year which could worsen the floods, Prof Azizan said the situation now “is neutral”.
La Nina is an irregular weather phenomenon which leads to a cooling of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, which can cause unusually heavy rainfall in some parts of the world.
The website of the Department of Irrigation and Drainage showed water levels at several measuring stations exceeding the alert level yesterday.
These are Selangor’s Sungai Bernam SKC Bridge station in Hulu Selangor, Sarawak’s Bintulu Belaga Road station, Ng Merurung station in Kapit and the Long Tengoa station in Limbang.
In Melaka, those recording alert level readings were the Sungai Malim Klebang Besar and Sungai Duyong stations, both in Melaka Tengah.
Wan Junaidi: Increase in rainfall early sign of possible floods
The Star 9 Oct 17;
KUCHING: The quantity of rainfall has increased in Malaysia and Indonesia, which are early signs of possible floods, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
He said he had asked the National Security Council and related agencies to be prepared and to act immediately in providing aid to victims since the rainy season had begun.
Facts and data currently kept by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), said Dr Wan Junaidi, were no longer relevant and a comprehensive review would need to be carried out to address floods in the country.
This, he said, was due to the change in rainfall and weather patterns, adding that locations which never flooded before were now also facing the problem.
“Although there is no specific allocation to tackle floods in Budget 2018, I hope attention will be given to this matter by the Government,” Dr Wan Junaidi told reporters after presenting minor rural project grants worth RM247,920 to 71 organisations and associations here on Saturday.
On another matter, Dr Wan Junaidi, who is also Santubong MP, said he wished to contest in next general election. — Bernama
The Star 9 Oct 17;
KUALA LUMPUR: The authorities must take immediate action to tackle wildlife roadkill and animal smuggling, which have affected the population of protected animals, said Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye (pic).
Lee, the patron of the Selangor Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was commenting on recent cases where wild animals have been fatally hit by vehicles and the authorities have made large seizures of protected-animal parts.
The animal activist said that in two recent incidents, an elephant bull and calf were killed on the Gerik-Jeli Highway within months of each other.
“I believe the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) has statistics on wildlife roadkill, which could help the authorities construct animal crossings at suitable locations,” he said.
This is about 70% of the state’s elephant population, he noted.
One suggestion he gave was to adopt other countries’ solutions to reduce roadkill, such as wildlife detectors that would trigger flashing signs when an animal is detected near the road.
He said reflective stickers were also placed on South American tapirs’ tracking collars to make it easier to spot them in the dark.
He also hoped that the authorities would enforce the International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008 to honour Malaysia’s obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Last year, Malaysia and other convention member states agreed to include all eight known pangolin species in CITES Appendix I.
The list consists of species threatened with extinction.
Commercial trade in such species, including their parts and derivatives, is strictly prohibited.
Lee said Malaysia has become a popular transit point among wildlife smugglers, as shown by the Customs Department’s recent hauls which include 8,000kg of pangolin scales at a port in Sabah in August, and 75kg of ivory at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in July.
He added that the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 should also be amended to impose harsher penalties on poachers and wildlife traffickers.
Jonathan L. Mayuga Business Mirror 8 Oct 17;
THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will look into the shrinking of islands comprising the Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary (TIWS), Southeast Asia’s largest marine-turtle sanctuary, in the municipality of Turtle Islands in Tawi-Tawi province.
Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB), said the “shrinking” of five islands in Tawi-Tawi needs further verification in her reaction to reports of the bureau’s conservation experts working under the Pawikan Conservation Project (PCP). The group of islands, namely, Boan, Lihiman, Langaan, Great Bakkungan, Taganak and Baguan, has a total aggregate area of 241,495.92 hectares, of which 298.27 hectares correspond to the land portions of the sanctuary, according to information provided by the Philippines to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).
The smallest island, the Langaan, measures about 7 hectares, while the largest, the Taganak Island, is about 124 hectares. Taganak Island is now thickly populated, with some residents living on beaches, which used to be nesting sites of the green marine turtles.
“We need to know if this [shrinking] is caused by natural sand shifting or as a result of sea-level rise,” Lim told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview.
Sand shifting is a natural phenomenon. Beaches change shape as influenced by tides and ocean currents. This could also lead to the shrinking or expansion of islands.
Sea-level rise, on the other hand, is predicted to occur as a result of the melting of the ice cap because of increasing global temperature. Known to nest and lay their eggs on beaches, both phenomenon can aggravate the already dwindling population of marine turtles and hasten their extinction. Based on satellite images taken in 1987, comparing it to the image captured last year, the islands’ beaches have shrunk considerably.
The Baguan Island reportedly shrank by as much as 5 hectares, said Rizza Araceli Salinas during the “Seminar on Marine Turtle Conservation Science” held at the DENR-BMB Training Center at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City on September 19.
Salinas expressed alarm, considering that the islands are the nesting sites of marine turtles, particularly the green marine turtles. The TIWS was proclaimed as Wildlife Sanctuary under Proclamation 171 on August 26, 1999, and identified as extremely high for biodiversity conservation, according to the Unesco web site.
“[The TIWS is] the only major nesting habitat of green sea turtles in the Philippines and the only major nesting ground in the whole Asean region and the 11th major nesting site in the world,” the web site added.
Lim said the DENR-BMB would have to coordinate and seek the help of other concerned government agencies to come up with a science-based conclusion on the shrinking of the islands.
“We have to consult experts and again capture satellite images. We will need the help of the Department of Science and Technology and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority,” Lim said.
Hunted for their meat, eggs and shells, the global population of the marine turtles is dwindling. Besides illegal wildlife trade, accidental by-catch is a serious problem. The DENR’s marine turtle conservation program was established in 1979 as part of its effort to save the species from extinction. There are five known species of marine turtles in the Philippines, foremost of which is the green marine turtle.
Velvet worm on Pulau Ubin
Entomological Network of Singapore
Morning Walk At Windsor Nature Park (07 Oct 2017)
Beetles@SG BLOG
Butterfly of the Month - October 2017
Butterflies of Singapore
Train services in both directions between Ang Mo Kio and Newton are not available for Saturday; SMRT working to resume services for Sunday
VICTOR LOH, AMANDA LEE Today Online 7 Oct 17;
SINGAPORE — Flooded tunnels and a trackside fire crippled operations on the North-South Line (NSL) on Saturday (Oct 7) evening in two separate incidents, affecting thousands of commuters on the weekend.
The track fault on the NSL affected train services from Ang Mo Kio to Newton stations for Saturday, as SMRT engineers scrambled to restore services in time for Sunday.
Earlier, SMRT trains on the NSL had to skip a total of 13 stations from Ang Mo Kio to Marina South Pier, leading transport operator SMRT to advise commuters to consider alternative transportation options.
"At 5.33pm, train services were stopped between Bishan and Toa Payoh MRT stations as a precaution because of water in the tunnel from Bishan to Braddell MRT stations," SMRT explained in a Facebook post.
"This occurred during torrential rain this afternoon," the company added.
The tunnel was reportedly flooded despite flood prevention measures having been improved recently. Currently, flood barriers at 35 underground MRT stations have been completed across the network.
The SCDF said it is using portable pumps to remove water in the tunnel and expects the process to be "a prolonged operation".
Separately, a small fire occurred on the trackside in the tunnel between the Marina Bay and Raffles Place MRT stations at 5.55pm.
Firefighters were sent to Marina Bay, but the fire had died out by itself when they arrived.
For safety reasons, NSL train services between Ang Mo Kio and Marina South Pier are not available, SMRT said.
SMRT was unable to provide information about the number of commuters who were affected on Saturday night and when the service can resume. It added it has “alternative plans” if the service is still not up and running by Sunday morning but would not elaborate.
Saturday’s disruption is possibly the widest outage since December 2011 when over 200,000 commuters were affected by a major service disruption along the NSL over two days.
On Dec 15 that year, an estimated 127,000 commuters were affected by a major service disruption along the NSL from Marina Bay station to Braddell station.
At that time four trains stalled because of a misalignment between the train’s current collector shoes and the power rail, also known as the third rail. The trains draw locomotive power from the third rail through the train current collector shoes. As there was a misalignment, the trains were unable to draw power and thus stalled.
Two days later, another service disruption took place on the same line during the morning and affected about 94,000 commuters. During this disruption, five trains stalled after encountering similar mechanical problems.
SMRT was only able to resume service around noon a day later.
Saturday's outage is believed to be the first time a MRT tunnel had been flooded after rain. In 2006, after an early morning downpour, the Novena MRT station had waterlogged floors and a dripping ceiling. The water, which flooded the floor by a height of 5cm, appeared to have come from a nearby construction site.
While train services were not affected at the time, staff from other stations arrived to shelter commuters with umbrellas and mop up the mess. To prevent the water from damaging the electrical systems, the escalators, fare gates and lift were switched off.
The latest incidents are not related to the new signalling project, SMRT said in its first of many updates on Saturday at 5.36pm. The track fault at the time was just isolated between Bishan and Toa Payoh stations.
Nine minutes later at 5.45pm, the outage affected another station: Ang Mo Kio.
Then, operator SBS Transit advised commuters to add 15 minutes to travel time in both directions.
SMRT said in a Facebook post that its engineers are investigating the cause of the trackside fire and flooded tunnels, and are working to resume train operations as soon as possible.
Water in the tunnel, trackside fire caused train disruption on NSL: SMRT
Channel NewsAsia 7 Oct 17;
SINGAPORE: Train service along a large stretch of the North-South Line (NSL) - from Ang Mo Kio to Marina South Pier - was disrupted on Saturday (Oct 7), after two separate incidents in the tunnel.
First, water got into a section of the tunnel from Bishan to Braddell MRT stations during the heavy downpour in the afternoon. As a result, train services were stopped between Bishan and Toa Payoh stations at about 5.30pm as a precaution, said SMRT.
Separately, at about 5.55pm, a small fire was spotted trackside in the tunnel between Marina Bay and Raffles Place MRT stations, said SMRT.
It added that the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was activated "within minutes" and was deployed to Marina Bay, but the fire "died out by itself".
"For safety reasons, North-South Line train services between Ang Mo Kio and Marina South Pier are not available," said SMRT in a Facebook post at about 7.30pm. "Our engineers are on site and investigating both incidents."
Five hours after the disruption was first reported, services are still not fully restored. SMRT announced in a tweet at about 10.45pm that services between Ang Mo Kio and Newton in both directions will not be available for the rest of the night.
"We are working to resume services for Sunday," it added.
SCDF said it is using portable pumps to remove water in the tunnel, in what's expected to be "a prolonged operation".
SMRT first tweeted about a disruption between Bishan and Toa Payoh stations at about 5.35pm. But in an update 30 minutes later, it said that there was no train service between Ang Mo Kio and Marina South Pier stations in both directions. That's 13 stations or half the stretch of NSL.
Free regular bus and bridging services were made available. SMRT also said commuters should consider alternative transport.
"Our engineers are on-site and are working to recover services as quickly as possible," said SMRT. "We are sorry that your journey has been affected this evening."
Crowds were seen at bus stops outside the affected train stations, as commuters waited for bus bridging services or sought other forms of transport.
Commuter Cheryl Law, 28, said she had to ask family members to pick her up from Bishan MRT station, as there was "no chance" for her to get onto buses due to the crowds. "Some of the passengers here are so frustrated," she told Channel NewsAsia.
Heavy rains were reported over many areas of Singapore on Saturday afternoon, prompting national water agency PUB to issue flood warnings for several areas including Paya Lebar Road and Leng Kee Road.
The NSL disruption is the second in a day. Earlier on Saturday, services on the North-East Line towards Punggol were affected briefly by a train fault at Sengkang.
Source: CNA/ad/gs
NSL disruption: Train services between Ang Mo Kio and Newton will not be available until earliest Sunday
Christopher Tan, Charmaine Ng, Jose Hong, Ng Huiwen Straits Times 7 Oct 17;
SINGAPORE - Water in MRT tunnels from Bishan to Braddell stations disrupted train services along 13 stations on the North-South Line for several hours on Saturday (Oct 7).
Train services between Newton and Marina South Pier were restored at 9.22pm, almost four hours after SMRT's first alert on the disrupted services.
However, at 10.45pm, SMRT said services between Ang Mo Kio and Newton will not be resumed on Saturday. SMRT was working to resume services on Sunday, the train operator said in a tweet and on Facebook.
It will carry out network-wide tunnel checks throughout the night, it said.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call from SMRT at 7.07pm about flooding in the tunnel between Braddell and Bishan MRT stations. In an update close to midnight on Saturday, SCDF said it is using portable pumps to siphon water from the affected area in what is expected to be prolonged operation.
The disruption comes as the National Environment Agency issued warnings of heavy rain with gusty winds over many parts of Singapore on Saturday.
Water in the tunnels went up to more than 30cm, The Straits Times understands.
There have been previous cases of water entering MRT tunnels, however, this is believed to be the first time it has affected train service.
Water got into the tunnels despite flood prevention measures having been improved recently, The Straits Times understands.
Bus bridging services have been activated.
Separately, a fire was spotted in a tunnel between Marina Bay and Raffles Place stations. It has since been put out.
It is not clear if it is linked to the flood, although electrical short circuits caused by water had sparked tunnel fires before.
SMRT said the "small fire" was spotted by a train captain at 5.55pm. SCDF was alerted and it deployed assets to Marina Bay station.
"However, the fire had died out by itself," said SMRT in its Facebook post.
SCDF told ST that it received a call from SMRT around 5.55pm about the fire. The fire burned itself out prior to SCDF's arrival, a spokesman said. There were no reported injuries.
Engineers were on site and investigating both incidents, said SMRT in its update on Facebook at around 7.32pm.
At around 8.30pm, SCDF and PUB officers were seen at Braddell MRT carrying hosereels into the station.
MRT tunnels are equipped with pumps which will kick in when tunnels are flooded. It is not known why they could not cope with the water on Saturday.
SMRT first sent an alert about the disruption in a tweet at 5.36pm. It said there was no train service between Bishan and Toa Payoh stations towards Marina South Pier "due to a track fault".
At 6.05pm, it updated that train services were not available between Ang Mo Kio and Marina South Pier.
Marketing manager P. Pang, 45, told ST that he boarded the train at Yio Chu Kang MRT at 5.37pm.
“The train was stuck at the station for quite a while. When I checked SMRT twitter and realised there was a track fault, I got off at Ang Mo Kio. But people were still boarding the train, as there was no instructions asking them not to,” he said.
Sales executive Imelda Tan, 51, was at City Hall MRT when she was instructed to take the Circle Line to Bishan instead and catch a bus from there to her home in Braddell.
“I was at Esplanade and walked to City Hall. I was about to tap in but then saw there was a large crowd outside. I had no idea what the problem was, so I asked the staff and have found out that I need to go all the way back to Esplanade and take the Circle Line back to Bishan,” she told ST.
Commodity manager Tan Yean Shi, who lives in Yishun, said directions from SMRT staff were helpful.
"There were people inside the station, and outside. It’s not bad, they’re quite helpful. But I think that now I won’t be able to get home even after an hour with this traffic jam,” the 33-year-old said.
Meanwhile, Uber Singapore said it was suspending surge pricing.
"Uber is working with the LTA to assist with the MRT service disruption between Ang Mo Kio and Marina South Pier. We will temporarily suspend dynamic pricing and encourage more drivers to go online to provide commuters another choice for transportation," a spokesman said.
In 2006, heavy rain in the morning, left the Novena station with water-logged floors and a dripping ceiling. The water, which rose to a height of 5cm, seemed to have come from a nearby construction site.
The North-East line too was disrupted on Saturday due to a train fault.
In a tweet at 12.39pm, train operator SBS Transit said service towards Punggol station was delayed due to a train fault at Sengkang station. Train service resumed about 20 minutes later.
arnold loh The Star 8 Oct 17;
GEORGE TOWN: Two species of the deadly box jellyfish, previously not thought to exist here, are breeding in the sea around Penang.
Their venom causes Irukandji Syndrome, which includes severe hypertension, extreme lower back pain, nausea, vomiting, intense cramps, breathing difficulty and heart failure.
While not as lethal as the Australian Box Jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri), which can kill an adult human in three minutes, they are still life-threatening to young children, the elderly and the frail, said marine biologist Sim Yee Kwang.
He said the current population density of the two species – Chiropsoides buitendijki and Morbakka sp. – in Penang is two in every square kilometre of the sea up to 400m from the shoreline.
Sim, who is a scientist in the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs) under Universiti Sains Malaysia, has been combing the coastline of Teluk Bahang, Batu Ferringhi, Tanjung Bungah, Tanjung Tokong on the island and Pantai Bersih in Butterworth every two weeks since July to catch jellyfish.
The largest box jellyfish was caught 200m from the shore of Pantai Bersih in Butterworth, measuring 18cm from end to end of its cube-shaped body.
Cemacs director Prof Datuk Dr Aileen Tan said box jellyfish were not thought to be in Penang.
“These are invasive species. Most likely, their larvae were carried to our waters in the ballasts of cargo ships,” she said.
She said unpredictable weather that significantly changed the sea’s temperature and salinity may trigger a bloom of the deadly jellyfish around Penang and also throughout the Strait of Malacca.
She said it is vital to develop a reporting mechanism of jellyfish sting victims in hospitals soon.
“We need to track cases of Irukandji Syndrome in hospitals to troubleshoot and monitor the spread of box jellyfish,” Dr Tan said.
She added that five years ago, she interviewed a fish farmer who was stung by a jellyfish while cleaning his open sea fish farm cages.
“He told us that in five minutes, he had difficulty breathing and was warded for several days.
“We suspected it was Irukandji Syndrome but did not have the data to confirm it,” Dr Tan said.
In February, a 12-year-old boy swimming in Teluk Bahang was stung by a jellyfish and went into a coma for three days.
Expert: Treat stings with vinegar, not urine or water
The Star 8 Oct 17;
GEORGE TOWN: Never use urine to ease a jellyfish sting.
The best first aid treatment is vinegar, said Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs) director Prof Datuk Dr Aileen Tan.
“Vinegar will stop any stingers still stuck on the victim’s body from firing more venom,” she said.
She also said not to wash the affected part with freshwater.
“Stingers are microscopic. They are inside the nearly invisible tentacles of a jellyfish, which could still be stuck on a victim’s body.”
Dr Tan said now that two box jellyfish species are breeding in Penang, tourism players need to do more to ensure public safety.
She said medical practitioners must be alert to the possibility that victims may have had a brush with a box jellyfish and develop Irukandji Syndrome.
She said Cemacs, under Universiti Sains Malaysia, is planning a workshop on dealing with jellyfish on Dec 4 for anyone involved in sea or beach activities in Penang.
The facilitators will include international experts attending the Harmful Jellyfish Sampling Protocol and Data Analysis In The Western Pacific workshop from Dec 5 to 6.
Visit http://cemacs.usm.my for details.
Jewel Topsfield and Amilia Rosa Sydney Morning Herald 8 Oct 17;
Sekotong, Lombok: Elawati blames herself for what happened to her son.
Rizki Ashadi is five and still wears a nappy. He sits on a rug on the porch, dribbling and contorting his limbs. The front of his sky-blue top is wet with drool and one of his beautiful liquid brown eyes points inwards.
Rizki cannot speak, but Elawati says he can understand her.
Before she realised she was pregnant, Elawati drank herbal concoctions to treat colds. The packet warned that the elixir should not be taken by pregnant women.
"I didn't find out I was pregnant for five months," Elawati says. "When I was pregnant I was sick a lot."
But an Indonesian NGO, BaliFokus, believes the cause of Rizki's disabilities might lie not in a herbal medication but within gold-processing machines, two of which grind away just metres from his house.
These rotating cylinders, known as ball mills, are the clattering soundtrack to life in Sekotong, an impoverished pocket of Lombok.
The island of Lombok is best known to Australians as a tourist mecca. It's less developed than Bali but has beautiful beaches and mountains and is a gateway to the car-free Gili Islands, where backpackers party and drink cheap cocktails.
But there is also jarring poverty, such as in Sekotong, where thousands of villagers eke an existence out of illegal gold mines that dot the dusty landscape.
The ball mills are used to crush ore extracted from the mines. After a few hours, water and mercury are added. Flecks of gold from the crushed ore bind to the liquid metal. The amalgam is then torched, which burns off the mercury and leaves behind a lump of gold. It's a popular technique, simple and cheap. But it can have devastating consequences.
The World Heath Organisation says mercury, a potent neurotoxin, can cause serious health problems and damage the brain and nervous system of children exposed in utero.
Elawati is one of 1044 participants in an international study that tested the mercury levels of women of childbearing age in 25 developing countries. The highest levels were found in Indonesian women from small-scale gold mining areas in Elawati's village of Sekotong in Lombok and Pongkor in West Java.
Elawati has not yet received the results of her test, but 94 per cent of the women tested from Sekotong had mercury levels greater than the internationally recognised safety threshold of one part per million (ppm).
"The harmful effects that can be passed from the mother to the foetus when the mother's mercury levels exceed 1ppm include neurological impairment, IQ loss, and damage to the kidneys and cardiovascular system," the study says.
"At high levels of mercury exposure this can lead to brain damage, mental retardation, blindness, seizures and the inability to speak."
The study released last month was produced by IPEN, a coalition of NGOs including BaliFokus from more than 100 countries that work to eliminate the harm to human health from toxic chemicals. It says where sampling was conducted in Indonesia there had been numerous reports of birth defects and people displaying symptoms of mercury intoxication.
According to 2014 figures, there are 250,000 illegal miners digging at 850 "hotspots" throughout Indonesia.
Yun Insiani, the director of hazardous and toxic material at the forestry and environmental ministry, says the symptoms of mercury-induced Minamata disease – dizziness, tremors, speaking difficulties and uncontrollable movements of body parts – have been observed in illegal mining areas: "The most at risk are pregnant women because they can deliver defective babies."
Insiani says the IPEN study is "shocking".
"The result is that Indonesian women are the ones most contaminated by mercury. And this is what we are afraid of because it means we may have lost a generation."
Indonesia has outlawed the use of mercury in small-scale gold mining, although the ban is not widely enforced. On September 20, Indonesian President Joko Widodo ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global treaty designed to limit mercury use and emissions internationally. (Australia has signed but not ratified the convention.)
The Minamata Convention is named after a city in Japan where a chemical factory dumped mercury waste into the bay between 1932 and 1968. For many years no-one realised that fish in Minamata had been contaminated by mercury and it was causing a strange disease. At least 50 000 people were affected and more than 2000 cases of Minamata disease certified.
"While the mothers were usually without symptoms of mercury poisoning, their babies were born severely damaged with microcephaly, cerebral palsy, severe mental retardation, seizure disorders, blindness, deafness, and other malformations," the 2010 paper Mercury Exposure and Children's Health says.
The Indonesian government says that by ratifying the Minamata Convention, it will more strictly regulate the use of mercury. "Ratification also opens opportunities for international cooperation to increase public awareness and knowledge about the dangers of mercury," the foreign ministry said.
'The doctor said there was no cure'
Sifaiyah is emptying out a ball mill, channelling silvery mercury into a bucket where it squirms like a live animal. She pours the mercury into a maroon piece of material and squeezes. A tiny nugget is left inside the cloth.
Sifaiyah tried wearing gloves once but they made her clumsy. Mercury-contaminated slurry from the mill sloshes over her bare feet and into a tailings pond. Later, chopping chillies in a tiny shack a few metres away, Sifaiyah assures us that she has been processing gold like this in Sekotong for eight years and everyone in her family is fine: "I have never heard of anyone getting sick because of mercury."
The most dangerous work of all is done at roadside stalls or, even more perilously, inside people's homes. Edo, an amiable man in a T-shirt covered with flamingos, operates out of a blue-walled concrete room, open to the street. "Beli mas" (Buy gold) says a big yellow sign.
Edo roasts the amalgam with a blowtorch on a makeshift stand and then weighs and values the gold. The burning releases toxic fumes: WHO warns vapour inhalation may even be fatal. Edo is aware mercury is dangerous but isn't sure exactly why. He says he usually uses a mask but borrows one from us because he has run out.
Children cluster just metres away. Edo positions the fan on his wooden desk so the vapour goes elsewhere. "Sometimes at night I feel dizzy," he says. "But if I avoided fumes completely I wouldn't be able to work. That's the reality."
In 2014, BaliFokus measured mercury vapour at several locations in Sekotong and found medium to high concentration levels. Villagers are potentially exposed to a double whammy of mercury. Gold processing waste is often dumped near or in waterways where the mercury contaminates fish and rice. A 2012 study found Sekotong's mercury levels in rice alone represented a potential threat to the health of local residents.
Muhammad Fikri is almost eight. He lies listlessly on a mattress, his tongue lolling and his legs splayed at strange angles. He had a seizure after he was born and can't communicate or even chew. His family masticate his food and feed it to him as if he is a baby bird.
"The doctors said there was no cure, they can't fix the baby," his father Kurdi says.
BaliFokus co-founder Yuyun Ismawati estimates about 5 to 10 per cent of children in the area are born with birth defects and up to 15 per cent have delayed development. "I have observed many babies and children suffer from frequent seizures in many small-scale gold-mining hotspots."
But paediatrician Stephan Bose-O'Reilly, a world expert on health hazards posed by mercury in small-scale gold mining, says "unfortunately" he cannot confirm the children have birth defects due to their exposure to mercury.
"The only way to answer this question would be to set up a proper scientific study, with a birth defect register," he says. "But what I can confirm is that mercury is toxic for children."
A 2007 study, co-authored by Bose-O'Reilly, examined 166 children from gold mining areas in Indonesia and Zimbabwe. "Compared to the control groups, the exposed children showed typical symptoms of mercury intoxication, such as ataxia (lack of muscle coordination)," the abstract says.
Dr I Nyoman Adnyana, the head of the medical clinic in Sekotong, stresses there is no proven link between mercury exposure and birth defects in the area.
"Without a valid result we can't say one way or the other," he says. "Birth defects happen in all areas, not just Sekotong."
Adnyana points out that Sekotong is a tourism area. He says if a direct link between mercury contamination and birth defects was proven it would need to be exposed. But in the absence of this, he worries about the impact on the local economy.
In 2010, West Lombok authorities tried to shut down illegal gold mines in Sekotong. The community rebelled.
"The people said they could drink mercury and were fine," says Rachman Sahnan Putra, the head of the West Lombok health department. He says he has tried everything to educate the community on the dangers of mercury, including screening films and holding seminars. But the message isn't getting through.
A youth group recently contacted him wanting assistance to breed fish in an old tailings pond. "That's the limited understanding. If they can't see silver, they think there is no mercury."
Regulatory efforts have also been continuously frustrated. A ban on the supply of mercury saw it smuggled in on small boats. Rachman is sympathetic to BaliFokus' concerns but he is also a realist: "Stopping the use of mercury won't work unless local communities are offered an alternative so they can maintain their livelihoods."
The Association of Community Mining in Indonesia (APRI) says there are ways of processing gold that do not use mercury or even cyanide, another toxic chemical commonly used in gold mining.
"There's a way of processing using no chemicals, or using harmless chemicals," says association head Gatot Sugiharto. "The harmless chemicals are actually cheap, but we need to educate people to use them. That's why we want the government to work together with APRI."
Fatimah is another of the 32 women in Sekotong who was tested for mercury as part of the IPEN study. Last year her only son, Iqbal, died aged three.
"He couldn't do anything like a normal baby, like crawl or communicate," Fatimah says. "After 2½ years he started getting very sick and not wanting to eat."
Iqbal's father, Nursah, used to torch gold amalgam by the side of the house. Ismawati, from BaliFokus, warned the couple this might have caused Iqbal's illness.
"When Ibu [Ms] Yuyun advised me of the danger, I sold my ball mill and became a construction worker," Nursah says. "Mining is more profitable but it is just not worth it. I don't want what happened to Iqbal to happen again."
Fatimah shows us a photo of Iqbal, twisted in a strange angle on a green woven bamboo mat. Her eyes fill with tears and she stares downwards. The couple recently learned Fatimah is two months pregnant.
"We have concern of course that the baby will have the same problem, but we are praying," Nursah says quietly.
Andi Abdussalam Antara 7 Oct 17;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia should not harbor concerns over depleting fossil fuel reserves since it is rich in renewables, as the sources of energy in the future, and geothermal is one of the countrys renewable source assets.
Geothermal power in Indonesia is an increasingly significant source of renewable energy, and as a result of its volcanic geology, it is often reported that the country has 40 percent of the worlds potential geothermal resources, which is estimated to be 29 thousand megawatts (MW).
However, Indonesia requires funds to develop its new and renewable sources of energy. The government wants renewable sources to contribute 23 percent of the countrys energy mix by 2025, and the country has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 29 percent by 2030.
In order to facilitate the development of renewable sources of energy, the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry is encouraging PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (SMI), a state-owned infrastructure funding company, to help develop new and renewable energy by disbursing low-interest loans.
At a presentation of a Micro Hydro project for Indonesia in Jakarta on Thursday, Deputy ESDM Minister Arcandra Tahar said the government is looking for cheap funds to develop the potential of new and renewable energy in Indonesia.
"We, at the ministry, are trying to bring in lenders who can offer us a cheap interest rate, and we are looking to source cheap funds, including from the SMI. We encourage the SMI to spend some of its funds for the development of new and renewable energy," he remarked.
Tahar said several financial institutions are offering funding assistance. European lenders are offering an interest rate at below five percent.
Nevertheless, he admitted that until now, none of the offers can be realized, as the government is also making calculations and studying their requirements.
One of the proposed conditions concerns the application of technology whose economic value still needs to be computed by the government, according to the deputy minister.
"The government is still making calculations to evaluate the economic value of the funding interest rate. Sometimes, the technology from the leaders is not always economically appropriate, so it should be calculated first," he pointed out.
Arcandra stressed that the government will continue to bring in lenders offering cheap loans to cater to the need to develop the countrys renewable energy potential.
The ESDM Ministry has also gathered stakeholders several times to work on it.
"The government is doing its best. This is a B-to-B deal. One of the governments instruments is using the SMI. The other instruments are foreign lenders that are able to provide soft loans," he said.
The ESDM Ministry has recorded that the total renewable energy potential in Indonesia reached 441.7 gigawatts (GW).
However, based on data from the Directorate General of Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation of the ESDM, of the 441.7 GW, only two percent, or 8.8 GW, has been generated from the plant installed this year.
Hence, the House of Representatives has supported the governments efforts to continue to develop the countrys new and renewable sources of energy, particularly geothermal, whose reserves in Indonesia are considered to be the largest in the world.
"I invite all of you to set a common goal to spur the development of environment-friendly renewable energy, so that the target to reduce emissions by 29 percent in 2030 can be achieved," said the DPR Agus Hermanto in Jakarta, Friday (Oct 6).
The legislator reminded that to realize the target of 23 percent renewable energy use, the use of renewable energy resources or environment-friendly energy must be increased.
Hermanto, who is a Democratic Party politician, also warned that a new and renewable energy policy had been contained in Presidential Regulation No. 79 of 2014 on the National Energy Policy. It aimed to develop alternative energy sources in lieu of fuel oil, while renewable energy was targeted to reach 23 percent by 2025, he added.
Admittedly, there are many challenges to develop environment-friendly energy for the creation of clean air. The main challenge lies in the certainty of regulation and the economic aspects of developing renewable energy.
In addition to this, it would take bold steps in the form of policy and political will together to encourage the development of clean environment-friendly energy.
In reaching the new and renewable energy target of 23 percent by 2025, the government has devised various strategies. In the geothermal field, for example, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources has issued Regulation No. 36 on Preliminary Survey Assignment Procedure (PSP) and Preliminary Survey Assignment and Exploration (PSPE).
Through this introduction and the PSPE Assignment mechanism, the Government may assign the business entity to conduct geological, geochemical, geophysical, and/or integrated evaluation activities up to the drilling of exploration wells to obtain information on geothermal reserve estimates.
The PSPE mechanism will help potential geothermal investors to ensure geothermal reserves gain more comprehensive economic value calculations, mitigate future development risks, and greater opportunities to secure project finance by delivering more bankable data and information.
Several other breakthroughs that have been made to increase geothermal investments include assignments of state-owned enterprises to improve the investments, based on Law No. 21 of 2014 on Geothermal Exploration, Fiscal Incentives, Tax Allowance and Non-Fiscal Incentives.
The government, moreover, also simplifies the procedures of receiving license for the exploration by establishing the One-Stop Integrated Service (PTSP) at the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).
(T.A014/INE/KR-BSR/F001)
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