Mission anemone at Pasir Ris
from wild shores of singapore
Christmas Day 2011 @ USR Park
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature
cuttlefish @ tanah merah
from sgbeachbum
111226 Tanah Merah
from Singapore Nature
Beads and blobs
from The annotated budak and A mite troubled and Belly up
Little Egrets’ Territorial Dispute
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Into The Wild @Bukit Batok Nature Park
from Nikita Hengbok
Straits Times Forum 28 Dec 11;
IS THE number of kills a relevant discussion before we decide to conserve or not to conserve a species ('He'll say it again with facts... Sharks aren't endangered, don't blame Asia' by Mr Tan Keng Tat; last Saturday)?
To focus on numbers is a distraction from the main topic. Conservation isn't merely about numbers. It is about sustainability. The killing of sharks has been proven unsustainable.
It is even more disturbing to note that sharks are a 'keystone species' and their decline in population will have cascading effects down the line in the marine ecosystem.
There are also people hunting them just for their fins. Can we be guilt-free just because it may be fewer than 73 million sharks killed a year?
If there is just one dog found left on the streets to die after all its four limbs were cut off, the case would spark global anger.
Is there a magic number we should hit before we pay attention to the killing of sharks, many of which are endangered but not protected by law?
We need to start looking beyond our dinner plates and soup bowls.
The World Wide Fund for Nature says that Singapore is the second largest shark's fin trading nation. A recent Straits Times report also showed an increase in demand for shark's fin ('Shark's fin still on menu for many'; Nov 26).
While waiting for legislation, we can definitely take individual steps towards saving our wildlife and environment.
Edwin Lim
Keep future generations in mind
Straits Times Forum 28 Dec 11;
SHARKS caught by tuna fishing boats are indeed often finned ('He'll say it again with facts... Sharks aren't endangered, don't blame Asia', by Mr Tan Keng Tat; last Saturday).
Because the meat is cheap, shark carcasses are often discarded to make space on the ship for more expensive tuna meat and shark's fin.
However, if there is no advantage in catching sharks, tuna fishing boats using longlines could use nylon instead of steel leaders, and 'weak' hooks and 'smart' hooks to reduce shark bycatches. The result is that fishermen would enjoy greater yields of target species and a reduction in opportunity losses.
While some sharks die on longlines before they are brought on board, many sharks, especially blue sharks which are by far the most common bycatch from longlines, have very high survival rates when released.
Sharks face threats in more areas than one: not just for their fins, but also their meat and cartilage, and in both longline fishing and purse-seine net fisheries where fish aggregating devices (FADs) are used.
Efforts to conserve sharks do not revolve around just one, but all of the above.
Unfortunately, many sharks are still being finned to feed the demand for shark's fin. Hence, some countries are striving to ban 'shark finning' - the process of cutting off the fins of a shark while it is still alive.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the organisation that classifies animal risk statuses, not the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).
Cites is an international agreement that regulates trade based on government votes. While it offers protection for three shark species (whale shark, great white shark and basking shark), it is not the determining body for species classification. The correct point of reference is IUCN, not Cites.
In a 2009 study by IUCN's Shark Specialist Group, experts estimated that one-third of shark species are threatened with extinction.
For example, great hammerhead and scalloped hammerhead sharks are globally endangered.
Porbeagle sharks are classified as globally vulnerable, but critically endangered and endangered in the north-east and north-west Atlantic, respectively.
Despite this, a trade restriction is not in place under Cites.
Scientists estimate that all commercial fish populations in our oceans may be wiped out by 2048. In situations where ideal legislation is not yet in place, Project: FIN encourages consumers to make informed decisions, with our future generations in mind.
Jennifer Lee (Ms)
Founder
Project: FIN
Ng Puay Leng Today Online 27 Dec 11;
SINGAPORE - Birds continue to be a source of problem in areas of dense population in Singapore but as Channel NewsAsia finds out, it's been a challenge pinning down the relevant authorities in charge of the problem.
Crows come under the purview of the National Environment Agency (NEA) while the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) handles complaints of nuisance with pigeons.
But it gets a little complicated when it comes to mynahs.
When Channel NewsAsia visited a coffee shop at Bishan Street 11, mynahs were seen picking at leftovers.
Stall holders said the number of mynahs in their coffee shop has more than doubled in the past two years.
And when they approached the NEA and AVA, both agencies said they are not in charge of handling the birds.
Both the NEA and AVA confirmed this with Channel NewsAsia.
This has left the coffee shop owner with no choice, but to resort to some creative methods to fend off the birds.
"In the past, we used the reflection of CDs to scare the mynahs away," Bishan coffee shop owner Hong Qi Wei.
"But after the second week, they came back. So now, we're trying a new method. We're using fake crows to scare away the mynahs."
The NEA has seen 1,796 complaints regarding crows as of November this year -- 100 fewer, compared to the number last year.
The AVA on the other hand, said it saw an increase in the number of complaints relating to pigeons.
As of October, there were reports of 560 complaints, exceeding the 360 received last year.
Building's management and PUB disagree as to why the basement was inundated
Grace Chua Straits Times 28 Dec 11;
THE management of Liat Towers and national water agency PUB do not see eye to eye on how last Friday's heavy rain turned the building's basement into a pond.
A spokesman for the management of the shopping and office block, speaking to The Straits Times following a meeting with PUB, pinned the blame on an over-full Stamford Canal.
PUB, on the other hand, is adamant that the build-up of water came from the heavy rain and the building not pumping out the water fast enough.
That afternoon, 152.8mm of rain came down on Orchard Road in three hours. Flash floods were reported in Little India, Bukit Timah and Thomson.
In the Orchard area, Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza - among the worst-hit by the floods in June last year - were hit again. In Liat Towers, water entered fast-food outlet Wendy's, Starbucks cafe and clothing retailer Massimo Dutti, all in the basement.
PUB said in a statement yesterday: 'The situation at Liat Towers was caused largely by the prolonged heavy rain, which fell directly into the building's open basement area.'
It noted that the basement's outdoor area was designed as a sunken plaza, for which the primary means of drainage is pumping. It added: 'The huge volume of rain water that fell continuously for three hours could have exceeded the building's pumping capacity.'
But the Liat Towers spokesman said the building's 3.3kw pumps had been working at full bore - flushing out some 15 bathtubs of water a minute - to push water into Stamford Canal.
It was just that the water had nowhere to go, the spokesman said, because the part of Stamford Canal that runs under the pedestrian walkway was full.
The SMS alert sent out by PUB said as much. (See other report.)
Stamford Canal has two parallel branches under Orchard Road - one on the Forum Galleria side, and the other in front of Orchard Towers.
The Liat Towers spokesman added that the building also used two other pairs of smaller pumps, one pair pushing water onto the walkway facing Angullia Park, and the other directing water onto the pedestrian mall.
Assistant Professor Vivien Chua of the National University of Singapore's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering said that if water is pumped into something that is already full, overflow would result.
She said: 'The water may not backflow if there is an additional outlet. By continuously pumping water out at a higher rate than the rate at which water enters the area, the water can be diverted to a drainage outlet which leads directly to the sea.'
PUB said, however, that with the right hydraulic pumps, 'you can still pump water into the canal'. It did not specify the recommended pump capacity.
Liat Towers, which disclosed that it had upgraded just last month at a cost of $8,000, raised another point - and this was that the shopping mall and office building, built more than 30 years ago, had never faced such severe flooding before last year.
PUB, sticking to its guns yesterday that the branch of Stamford Canal on the Liat Towers side had not overflowed, said in an e-mail: 'When the canal at Forum (The Shopping Mall) reaches 100 per cent, the excess water will flow to the canal at Orchard Towers.'
She added that on that day, while the water level in the canal on the Forum side reached 100 per cent, the water level in the canal at Orchard Towers was below 100 per cent throughout the downpour.
'The rain on Dec 23 did not cause the canal to overflow,' she wrote, adding that any overflow from the canal would have come out of the drop inlet chambers, which are openings on the edge of the road, onto Orchard Road.
After yesterday's meeting, Liat Towers said the PUB recommended raising the curb next to the Liat Towers drain by 600mm, creating a barrier between the scupper drain next to Wheelock Place and the enclosed basement plaza.
PUB officers are working with the management of Liat Towers to review the building's internal drainage system.
A PUB spokesman said that last year, when the agency gave Liat Towers technical advice on floodgates, it had already urged the building's management to look into its internal drainage system.
After last year's floods on Orchard Road, the PUB raised a 1.4km stretch from Tanglin Road to Cairnhill Road by an average of 30cm.
PUB said it is looking into building a detention pond and a diversion canal for the Stamford catchment. Its study began in August and is expected to take until May.
LIAT TOWERS SAYS
'The pumps were working at full blast but were not able to drain the water out into the canal because the canal was full.
PUB has got to take care of the canal.
If the canal causes backflow and flooding, no matter how many pumps you put in, there will still be a problem. The long-term solution is that the Government has to do something tothe canal.'
A SPOKESMAN FOR LIAT TOWERS MANAGEMENT
PUB SAYS
'The situation at Liat Towers was caused largely by the prolonged heavy rain which fell directly into the building's open basement area.
The outdoor area of Liat Towers is designed as a sunken plaza. The primary means to drain water away from the sunken plaza is through pumping.
On Dec 23, Liat Towers had pumped the water collected in its sunken plaza onto the pedestrian walkway, not into the canal. The huge volume of rain water that fell continuously for three hours could have exceeded the building's pumping capacity.'
A PUB SPOKESMAN
Who pays for flood damage?
Straits Times 28 Dec 11;
LAST YEAR, floods along the Orchard Road shopping belt caused damage estimated to run into millions of dollars.
Last Friday, floods swept once again into the basements of Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza.
Burger chain Wendy's said it was still totting up the damage from the latest deluge at its Liat Towers outlet.
The floods in June last year caused it $500,000 in damage.
Asked if it would move out at the end of its lease, the fast-food chain's marketing and branding manager Seng Woonfa said: 'We will assess the situation.'
Insurance litigation specialist Edric Pan, a partner in law firm Rodyk & Davidson, said much depends on the extent of the shops' insurance coverage.
'If their own insurance covers flood damage, they can look to their insurers to cover their losses,' he said.
But the owners of a building cannot be held liable if the flood is caused by a public canal overflowing, as there would have been nothing the owners could reasonably have done to prevent that.
The tenants in a building will, however, be able to file claims against the building management if it can be shown that it had contributed to the flood, such as by failing to clear a blocked gutter.
The damage from last year's floods was covered by Liat Towers' insurance as well as insurance policies taken out by the individual tenants.
Following that deluge, which has since been attributed to the Stamford Canal overflowing, the building management spent $500,000 on pop-up floodgates. It also put $11,000 into small flood barriers in front of Wendy's, coffee outlet Starbucks and clothing retailer Massimo Dutti, and waived three days of rent for affected tenants.
This time round, the management has pitched in with a post-flood cleanup; it is still in talks with its tenants on how else it can help them, said a spokesman for Liat Towers' owner Goldvein.
Said Mr Seng of Wendy's: 'We have to solve the issue, rather than pointing fingers. That is the most pragmatic way.'
GRACE CHUA
Ebb and flow: What happened
Straits Times 28 Dec 11;
NATIONAL water agency PUB sends out SMS alerts on water levels in various canals or drains to its network of subscribers, which include building managers.
Subscribers may select the canals or drains which they wish to monitor. The alerts tell them when the water level in these canals rises above 50 per cent, 75 per cent, 90 per cent and 100 per cent, and when it falls below those levels.
The following is a timeline based on those alerts and eyewitness accounts during the heavy downpour on Dec 23.
4.52 PM The water level at Stamford Canal, measured from the sensor nearest Liat Towers, is above 50 per cent. PUB's SMS alert sent out at this time reads: 'Stamford Canal (Forum): Water level rise above 50%. Low Flood Risk.' Liat Towers' building management activates its flood gates, which pop up.
5.01 PM The water level rises above 75 per cent to 'moderate flood risk', according to the PUB alert. Eyewitnesses say it is raining heavily, and that the water level in Liat Towers' basement plaza is rising.
5.04 PM The water level in the canal exceeds 90 per cent. The SMS alert at this point describes this as 'high flood risk'.
5.07 PM The water level rises 'above 100 per cent', says the alert. It has gone from 90 per cent to more than 100 per cent in the space of three minutes.
5.25 PM Liat Towers' time-stamped photographs show knee-deep water along the pedestrian mall outside its floodgates. The top of the stairs leading to Liat Towers' basement is above water, but its basement is in knee-deep water.
5.26 PM Liat Towers' building management sets up a hose to pump water out of the basement.
5.36 PM The water level in the canal falls to below 100 per cent, says the PUB alert.
5.39 PM It falls to below 90 per cent.
5.43 PM It falls further to below 75 per cent.
5:59 PM It falls to below 50 per cent.
Lucky Plaza to build flood barriers
Joanne Chan Channel NewsAsia 27 Dec 11;
SINGAPORE: Lucky Plaza - which was hit by flooding again last Friday - is in the process of installing flood barriers.
Its management told Channel NewsAsia it is in discussion with national water agency PUB and the relevant authorities.
It is unable to reveal further details.
Channel NewsAsia understands the project has been in the works since last year, when Singapore experienced one of its worst flooding in history.
But difficulties with building approval, caused delays.
Rain water gushed into Lucky Plaza's basement during last Friday's floods.
Shopkeepers scrambled to save their goods, and spent hours cleaning up the mess.
They also received a nasty surprise - a manhole was opened to allow the water to drain away, but sewage came bubbling up instead.
One person said: "The sewage started to overflow. It was stinking, it was real stinky, real stinky.The sight was really bad. It's just like the sewage from the toilet."
Another said: "The drainage got stuck, some stuff like that, that's why the water overflowing."
This is the third time in less than two years that Lucky Plaza's basement has been hit by flooding.
The building's management said it is exploring the idea of flood barriers to prevent surface runoff from entering the basement.
But before that is built, tenants said they hope to receive early warnings, so that they too, can take the necessary precautions.
Channel NewsAsia understands an earlier proposal to build flood barriers at a nearby bus stop was turned down.
It is believed approval was eventually granted for barriers to be built along the walkway, just outside the building.
A handover in project management caused further delays.
It is understood the project is now managed by Bruce James Building Surveyors, who took over from Ong and Ong Architects in March this year.
A tender has also yet to be called.
It is understood the barriers, which could stretch up to 100 metres to protect the facade of the building, could cost more than S$300,000 to install.
A permanent structure is also unlikely along the busy walkway, with a pop-up barrier the likely choice.
In the meantime, shopkeepers said they are using makeshift items, such as newspapers and plywood, to prevent water from entering their shops.
Liat Towers too, was not spared.
Although its flood gates were activated, its basement was still flooded.
Responding to queries from Channel NewsAsia, a spokesperson for the building's management said it has spent more than S$250,000 installing pumps and flood barriers, and improving the drainage system.
She added the problem appears to be "something more fundamental", and claimed to have seen parts of Stamford Canal overflowing on Friday, which may have backed up the drainage at Liat Towers.
PUB, however, said Stamford Canal did not overflow.
It added the huge volume of rainwater could have exceeded the building's pumping capacity.
PUB said it is studying the idea of building a detention pond and diversion canal for the Stamford catchment.
The study started in August this year, and will be done by May next year.
Until that happens, Orchard Road retailers are keeping their fingers crossed that a heavy rain doesn't hit them again.
- CNA/wk
Liat Towers to build anti-flood curb
Joanne Chan Channel NewsAsia 29 Dec 11;
SINGAPORE: Liat Towers is planning to build a 60-centimetre-high curb over a drain that runs along the side of the building as a last resort to keep water out of its basement.
Despite the various measures put in place over the past year, the building was hit by flood again last Friday.
This time, the cause has been traced to a drain that overflowed.
Stretching to the back of the building, the drain mostly collects rainwater from Liat Towers' open air car park on the seventh floor.
Water is then discharged into Stamford Canal.
Liat Towers said the drain overflowed as Stamford Canal was at full capacity and could not take anymore rainwater, resulting in a "bottleneck".
However, national water agency PUB insists Stamford Canal did not overflow, and that the gushing water could have exceeded the building's pumping capacity.
Liat Towers' building supervisor Chik Hai Lam said the building has never suffered such severe flooding problems till last year.
Channel NewsAsia understands PUB and Liat Towers have met several times since Friday's incident.
Its latest meeting was on Thursday morning, when Liat Towers agreed to build a 60cm curb on top of its drain.
The aim is to prevent water from overflowing into the basement in the event of another heavy downpour.
The curb will be made of bricks and cement and is expected to cost S$20,000 to S$25,000.
- CNA/wk
Tunggadewa Mattangkilang Jakarta Globe 27 Dec 11;
Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. Rivers in East Kalimantan are threatened by the growing coal mining industry, an environmental activist warned on Monday.
The Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), an NGO in the province, said 27 branch rivers have disappeared, either buried or diverted in the interest of the coal mining industry. As a result, major rivers such as Mahakam river have been polluted, and local residents have increasingly lost natural freshwater sources.
“Mining activities have many impacts,” said Jatam coordinator Kahar Al Bahri. “Our records show 27 tributaries of main rivers are now gone because of mining interests. Water quality is degrading and ultimately that reduces food production.”
Kahar also said mining excavations have left large holes that in the last two years have caused accidents killing at least 13 people in Kutai Kartanegara and Samarinda districts.
Excavation sites abandoned by 57 mining firms in Samarinda had 100 bore holes measuring 1,200 hectares, while 213 companies in Kutai Kartanegara left 32 holes measuring 836 hectares.
“Nearly all mining firms in East Kalimantan failed to do proper land restorations after their excavations, which poses a danger since the holes are located near residential areas in Kutai Kartanegara and Samarinda,” Kahar said.
Mining companies avoided reclamation projects to cover the holes, he said, because land restoration can be expensive. To make matters worse, authorities only have a few inspectors to supervise 1,271 mining firms in the province.
“Even if some companies agreed to do the reclamation, it only covered 5 percent of the damaged areas,” Kahar said. “A major firm like KPC [Kaltim Prima Coal], which has exploited 5,000 hectares of land for mining, only restored a tiny area of 300 hectares.”
According to Jatam, mining licenses in the province cover a total of 5.6 million hectares. The 30 companies with licenses from Jakarta control 1.3 million hectares, while companies with licenses from local governments occupy the rest of the land.
Meanwhile, the provincial government has claimed that land restoration has reached 80 percent of the mining sites and that a moratorium on mining licenses has been imposed.
“We can only encourage mayors and district heads to ensure the moratorium on mining licenses is implemented properly,” said Riza Indra Riadi, head of the provincial environment office.
Fun new sightings at Tanah Merah
from wild shores of singapore
Ribbons: Terrestrial Nemerteans of Singapore
from Lazy Lizard's Tales
eagle clip 1 - nest landing with food @ Paris Ris
from sgbeachbum
Life in wastelands
from Urban Forest
Up Close with a Bird Dung Crab Spider
from Macro Photography in Singapore
Nature Society (Singapore)’s position paper on Bukit Brown Cemetery now available
from Green Drinks Singapore
Nicolas Delaunay AFP Jakarta Globe 26 Dec 11;
Kijkduin, Netherlands. In its age-old war to keep back the sea, low-lying Netherlands has dumped sand onto a surface larger than 200 football fields just off the coast — and will wait for nature to do the rest.
The wind, waves and ocean currents are the next “engineers” in this innovative project that will see the transferred sand — all 20 million cubic meters of it — driven landward to form a natural barrier against the North Sea’s relentless onslaught. The elements have started moving the tip of the bar, which already almost touches land at low tide.
Over a period of 15 to 20 years, the sand will wash toward the coast, reinforcing beaches and existing sand dunes that help protect the Netherlands, more than a quarter of which lies below sea level.
“Under natural circumstances, the Dutch coast would erode away slowly,” said Leo Linnartz, an ecology expert who advised the project’s developers on behalf of the World Wide Fund for Nature. Without reinforcing fragile shores, floods would eventually be inevitable, he said.
Over the decades, the Dutch have developed world-renowned expertise in the field of hydro-engineering, notably in constructing dams, dikes and bridges.
Around 17,500 kilometers of embankment have already been built along its coast and rivers.
The new project was conceived by a group of experts commissioned by the Dutch government to help solve the country’s ongoing headache. It used dredgers to suck up ocean-floor sand 10 kilometers off the coast then dump it closer to land. Some of the huge machines were able to carry as much as 10,000 cubic meters of sand at one time.
If the experiment works, the sandbar project, situated between the seaside suburbs of Kijkduin and Ter Heijde near The Hague, will be replicated elsewhere in the country. And the system could even be exported.
“We used to do it in such a way that we used a lot of stones and concrete and things like that,” said Linnartz. “But nowadays we prefer to work together with nature, to cooperate with natural forces.”
The idea of strengthening the coastline with sand is not new, Linnartz said. But placing it off the coast and allowing nature to take its course is not only a fresh approach to the problem but less harmful to the environment than simply dumping more sand on the dunes, he said.
While traditional shoring up happens around every five years, the new plan based on the sand’s natural movement will last 15 to 20 years.
Agence France-Presse
The Star/Asia News Network AsiaOne 26 Dec 11;
KUALA LUMPUR: More people have been evacuated due to floods in Johor, Pahang and Sabah, while Sarawak was hit by floods Sunday night.
The total number of evacuees as at 10am Monday was 2,734, of whom 1,437 were in Johor, 946 in Pahang and 351 in Sabah. Seven families have been moved out in Sarawak.
In Johor, 300 more people were evacuated overnight to bring the total to 1,437.
The National Security Council portal reported that evacuees were being accommodated at 25 relief centres, 12 of them in Segamat, seven in Mersing and six in Batu Pahat.
It reported that the earth road leading to the Orang Asli village of Peta in the Endau-Rompin National Park was reportedly submerged by floods and the settlement can be reached only by boat or air.
According to the portal of the Drainage and Irrigation Department, the levels of two rivers remain above the danger point. The level of Sungai Muar in Bukit Kepong is 3.34m and in Buloh Kasap, Segamat, 9.47m.
The levels of rivers in other places are above the warning point, namely Sungai Bekok at the Bekok Dam in Batu Pahat (17.04m), Sungai Muar in Kampung Awat, Segamat (19.92m), Sungai Simpang Kiri in Seri Medan, Batu Pahat (2.19m), Sungai Senggarang, Batu Pahat (3.28m) and Sungai Lenik in Chaah Estate, Batu Pahat (5.60m).
In Pahang, the number of evacuees in the Rompin district rose to 946 from 618 overnight, according to a spokesman of the Pahang Police Flood Operations Room.
He said one more relief centre was opened Sunday night at SK Sarang Tiong, to house 137 evacuees, raising the number of relief centres to five.
"Some 422 evacuees are accommodated at SK Pianggu, 247 at the Teluk Gading hall, 119 at the Bukit Serok centre (119) and 21 at the Kampung Rekoh community hall," he said, adding that all the evacuees were from 13 villages in the district.
The spokesman also said the severed road link to the Mentelong and Denai villages was restored late Sunday evening.
In Sabah, the number of evacuees from Kampung Gum Gum in Sandakan rose to 351 from 341 overnight, said a spokesman of the Sandakan Municipal Council flood operations centre.
He said two more families were moved out after it was feared that their houses would be flooded at any time.
All the evacuees are being housed at the Gum Gum multi-purpose hall at Batu 16, he said.
The spokesman said the Sandakan district was experiencing intermittent to heavy rain.
In Sarawak, seven families were evacuated after several low-lying areas in the Samarahan Division were hit by floods Sunday night, after heavy rain over the past two days and very high tides, said a spokesman of the state operations room.
He said the two affected villages were Kampung Asajaya Hulu and Kampung Serpan Ulu.
"According to a report of the Samarahan district office, seven families have been moved out of their homes," he said.
He also said people in other low-lying areas have been advised to evacuate if the floodwaters continued to rise.
Several village roads were flooded Sunday night but major roads were passable to traffic, he added
More evacuated due to floods
The Star 27 Dec 11;
PETALING JAYA: More people have been evacuated due to floods in Johor, Pahang and Sabah.
In JOHOR, the flood situation in several districts saw 1,236 victims from 313 families being housed at 19 flood-relief centres.
As at 4pm, Mersing still has the highest number of evacuees with 679 victims, followed by Segamat (388) and Batu Pahat (151).
However, the flood relief centres in Pontian and Kluang have been closed as at 12pm and 2pm respectively, on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the National Security Council portal reported that the earth road leading to the orang asli village of Peta in Endau-Rompin National Park is still under water and the settlement can be reached only by boat or plane.
In PAHANG, the number of evacuees in the Rompin district has risen to 946 from 618 overnight, according to a spokesman from the state police flood operations room.
He said one more relief centre was opened last night at SK Sarang Tiong to house 137 evacuees, raising the number of relief centres to five.
“Some 422 evacuees are being put up at SK Pianggu, 247 at the Teluk Gading hall, 119 at the Bukit Serok centre and 21 at the Kampung Rekoh community hall,” he added.
In SABAH, the number of evacuees from Kampung Gum Gum in Sandakan rose to 351 yesterday morning from 341 on Sunday night, said a spokesman from the Sandakan Municipal Council flood operations centre.
All the evacuees are being housed at the Gum Gum multipurpose hall at Batu 16, he said.
In KELANTAN, 40 families from six villages living along the coastal areas of Bachok were forced to keep awake for more than eight hours on Sunday night due to high tides, strong winds and huge waves, Bernama reported.
Residents of Kampung Pantai Damak, Kampung Perupuk, Kampung Kubang Golok, Bachok old city near Pantai Irama, Kampung Tok Burung and Kampung Tanjung Chat said their houses were submerged in 0.2m to 0.4m of sea water.
3,800 flee flood-hit homes in Malaysia
Straits Times 27 Dec 11;
KUALA LUMPUR: Floods forced some 3,800 people to flee their homes in parts of Malaysia yesterday, as the country continued its battle against the year-end monsoon rain.
The authorities said that 1,236 evacuees were from the southern state of Johor, 625 were from Pahang, and 351 were from the East Malaysian state of Sabah.
About 1,600 people in Sarawak were also moved out yesterday after floods struck on Sunday night.
The National Security Council said the evacuees in Johor had been given shelter at 18 relief centres.
The council reported that the earth road leading to the orang asli village of Peta in the Endau-Rompin National Park - where 21 Singaporean tourists were trapped and rescued last week - had been submerged by floods.
By late afternoon yesterday, some rivers in Johor had reportedly breached their danger points.
Malaysia has been bracing itself for the north-east monsoon, which was expected to cause heavy rainfall across the country from last month.
Since early this month, floods have caused massive traffic jams in Kuala Lumpur. Up north in Kelantan, at least seven flood deaths have been reported since last month.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, more bodies have washed ashore after tropical storm Washi sent torrents of water, mud and logs cascading through riverside and coastal villages on Mindanao island in the middle of this month.
Fishermen joined Philippine navy sailors, police and firefighters in an ever wider search for bodies from entire villages swept away in one of the country's worst natural disasters.
The storm destroyed more than 10,000 houses and displaced more than 300,000 people who are now mostly in emergency shelters.
Nearly 1,100 had been reported missing, officials said yesterday. The death toll as of yesterday stood at 1,249, with about two-thirds of the bodies unidentified.
With more bodies found floating farther away, Office of Civil Defence head Benito Ramos said the authorities sought the help of fishermen to scour the sea.
'We've stopped counting the missing. There are no accurate figures,' he said. 'Those recovered, we don't know who they are. We have a system in place so that families can claim them later, based on fingerprints and dental records.'
President Benigno Aquino, who banned logging in February following previous flooding deaths that experts say were caused partly by deforestation and soil erosion, has ordered an investigation.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
New Straits Times 27 Dec 11;
TERENGGANU: The adage "time and tide wait for no man" took on a literal twist for construction workers building a sea wall at Kampung Tok Jembal, near here, as unusually high tide and strong waves are expected to last until Thursday.
The sound of earth-movers working until late at night at the beach could hardly be heard against the loud crashing of waves on the rock barrier that they were building.
The weather forecast on the Meteorological Department website showed that waves of between 5.5 to 7.5 metres high, accompanied by winds of between 60 to 70 kilometre per hour, would continue to lash the Terengganu coastal area until Thursday.
On Nov 29, the New Straits Times reported that erosion caused by strong waves at the beach had caused four gazebos and several casuarina trees to plunge into the sea.
Terengganu Drainage and Irrigation Department director Mat Hussin Ghani said the effect of strong waves and high winds was made worse by the unusually high tide which started last Friday.
"On Sunday, the high tide which occurred between 9pm to 11pm reached 2.9 metres and the phenomenon will probably continue until today," said Mat Hussin when contacted yesterday.
Mat Hussin said the high water level could cause serious damage even without the strong waves.
"When the high tide occurs together with waves of over three metres, they generate a phenomenal force that may well reach further ashore."
He said the state government had given instructions to expedite the construction of the 450m stretch of the two-metre-high embankment costing RM2.5 million in view of the severe weather.
"The construction company is working until late at night to complete the embankment. However, we also have to acknowledge that we cannot really fight the forces of nature. We can only minimise the damage."
Mat Hussin advised fishermen to haul their boats further inland to avoid them being carried away or damaged by the strong waves that are expected to hit the coast.
"Parents should also prevent their children from swimming in the sea to prevent any untoward incident."
500 homes hit by flash floods in Phatthalung
Bangkok Post 27 Dec 11;
Strong waves and heavy downpours yesterday continued to lash the South, while the government and the army have accelerated assistance to help affected residents in six coastal provinces along the Gulf of Thailand.
Powerful winds and waves continued to pound several areas in Surat Thani province. Authorities built a sea wall stretching some 15-20km around Ban Pod beach in Don Sak district to protect the coastal area from the waves. However, ferocious waves damaged several sections of a road and bridges in the area.
Authorities yesterday warned residents living in Tha Chana, Chaiya, Tha Chang and Kanchanadit coastal districts to stay alert. Small fishing boats were told not to leave shore because of strong winds and high waves.
Many foreign tourists have flocked to the popular islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan islands for Christmas celebrations. But the celebrations were muted as red flags were raised at some sections of beaches.
In Phatthalung, heavy rains continued to ravage Kong Ra, Si Nakharin, Si Banphot, Khuan Khanun and Muang districts yesterday. Khuan Khanun was the worst hit as flash floods and forest runoff from the Banthad mountain range flooded over 500 households. Many houses were flooded to levels of 50-60cm. Rubber plantations, rice fields and roads were damaged by the flooding.
Phatthalung's disaster prevention and mitigation office yesterday warned residents living at the foot of mountains and low-lying areas to brace for possible flash floods, forest runoff and mudslides.
Wanchai Sakudomchai, director of the meteorology centre for the eastern South, yesterday forecast waves of up to 2 metres, from today until Saturday, in provinces along the Gulf of Thailand. There would be waves of 2-3 metres from Nakhon Si Thammarat down during this period, he said.
The Emergency Operations Centre for Floods, Storms and Landslides yesterday reported that six central provinces still remain flooded in parts. The provinces include Ayutthaya, Lop Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi and Bangkok.
The floods that hit the North and Central regions have claimed 752 lives and three people are still missing. More than 1.5 million households with some 4 million people were affected, said the centre.
In the South, eight provinces _ Phatthalung, Trang, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Narathiwat, Songkhla,Yala and Pattani _ have been declared disaster zones as floods and other natural disasters have affected 147,092 households with 472,227 people. More than 100,000 rai of agricultural areas were damaged. So far, 10 people have been killed in the natural disasters that struck the South.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday said she has assigned Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit to accelerate assistance to affected residents in six coastal provinces hit by strong waves.
She instructed governors in the six provinces to use reserve funds to provide relief assistance to residents affected by the waves.
Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said the army has coordinated with relevant agencies to provide assistance to affected residents in the six provinces along the Gulf of Thailand. He also warned residents and fishermen to closely monitor the weather before going to sea.
In Prachuap Khiri Khan, waves of up to four metres yesterday eroded about one kilometre of the coastline at Thung Pradu coastal village in Thap Sakae district. The waves also damaged several houses and shops.
Deputy Prachuap Khiri Khan governor Apinand Chantharangsi said the province yesterday declared Hua Hin, Sam Roi Yot, Kui Buri and Thap Sakae districts disaster areas.
An initial survey found more than 500 households have been affected by strong waves, Mr Apinand said.
He has asked officials to provide assistance to affected residents. Strong winds have hampered relief work, he conceded.
Mrs Somprapa Morakarn, chairwoman of the shop operators club of Hua Hin, said waves that hit the beach town yesterday morning washed away some shops and stalls. Many shop owners and staff fled as the waves hit, she said.
Athikul Budying, deputy mayor of Hua Hin municipality, yesterday ordered municipal officials to survey damage caused by the waves and help people move their belongings to higher ground. Tourists and residents were told not to swim in the sea.
In Chumphon, high waves and strong winds continued to affect several coastal areas, while officials were sent to survey areas damaged by the waves.
Authorities urged to tackle urban planning issues amid concerns climate change puts Thai capital at risk of more frequent flooding
Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk 26 Dec 11;
Now the car parks have been cleared of crocodiles and the store room emptied of cobras, the managers at one of Thailand's biggest electronics companies have begun reclaiming their factory from Bangkok's worst flood in a century and wondering what more they can do to prevent the climate wreaking similar havoc in the future.
Cleaners scrub the floor with chemical cleaning agents, workers rip mouldy tiles from the ceilings and engineers try to salvage what equipment they can at the Hana Microelectronics factory.
Production is expected to resume any day. But it will not be business as usual for many months, if ever. Looming over this clean-up operation – like countless others in homes, businesses and government offices in the Thai capital – is a concern that such disasters will strike with more frequency in the future unless the human flaws and climate risks are addressed more seriously.
"The big question from our customers is: 'Will it flood again?'" said Worawit Sriburanasorn, a senior manager at Hana who fought the waters with diesel pumps and protective walls.
It is a question on many minds as Thai policymakers consider issues that are likely to affect other countries in the future: whether to build stronger defences, move to higher ground or otherwise adapt to the risks posed by political mismanagement and a changing climate.
"We are on the frontline of climate change. As we see rising temperatures, more rain and a higher sea level, Bangkok will be very vulnerable," said Seree Supratid, a professor at Rangsit University and government adviser.
"In the talks in Cancun and Durban, they just talk about reducing greenhouse gases, but the disasters are already here. We should shift the emphasis from mitigation to adaptation."
Almost five months have passed since the flooding began in the northern hills of Thailand and then spread slowly down through the central plains to inundate swaths of Bangkok, killing more than 500 people, affecting 12 million others and disrupting business at some of the planet's biggest industrial parks. The World Bank estimates the damage at 1.4tn baht (£29bn), making it one of the costliest disasters in human history.
The stories from the flood are still emerging. Among the most dramatic is that of Hana Microelectronics, which is a key supplier of sensors and chips for Apple's iPhone and also makes widgets, smart-card readers and touch pads for Samsung, Texas Instruments and Motorola.
When its Ayutthaya plant was deluged, the discovery of two crocodiles in the car park and a cobra in a store room disconcerted the staff, but the potential disruption to production caused global consternation. Apple was so worried that it offered helicopters to airlift the 100m chips inside.
The government dispatched the Thai navy to ferry 450 pieces of heavy machinery to an alternative factory so that manufacturing could resume. Even so, there was a gap of about two weeks.
Richard Han, the chief executive officer, estimated the damage to his plants and equipment at more than $30m (£19m). Lost business could cost three times as much again.
"Most of my customers will come back but they won't bring all their business back," he said. He too will move some production to an expanded operation in China to hedge against future floods.
"One thing we know is that unprecedented weather events are now happening on a regular basis. Add to that gross mismanagement and a lack of infrastructure and it is clear that the government are going to have to prepare better," he said. "My big worry is that insurers may not accept flood insurance any more. That could be a trigger for the Thai government to step in. If not, we'd have to build up reserves and self insure."
Elsewhere, several districts were still underwater as the end of the year approached. Near Don Muang airport, the motorway resembled a river with trucks, buses and jeeps leaving a wake behind them as they slowly navigated through the water.
On Buddhamonthon Road in West Bangkok, people were camping on bridges with their belongings stacked under tarpaulin. Some had lost everything. Uthai Muangpor was wading in a waist-deep pool that had once been the hospital car park where she ran a grilled banana kiosk. "I'm looking for my stove and pans," she said. "When the flood come, everything I owned floated away. I didn't have any valuables. But now even my clothes and mattress are gone."
The extent to which climate change is to blame is hard to quantify. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says Bangkok is one of the most vulnerable cities in the world because it sits on a flood plain and has been periodically inundated for centuries. It also suffers from severe subsidence and is at long-term risk from rising sea levels.
Scientists estimate that for each degree of warming, the amount of moisture in the air increases by 7%. This year is on course to be the wettest on record, according to the Met Office, which says 1,822mm of rain fell in the first nine months.
But even the most ardent campaigners for climate action acknowledge that the government must take the bulk of the responsibility. "The blame for the floods is 30% with nature and 70% with the mismanagement of the authorities," said Srisuwan Janya, a lawyer and founder of the Stop Global Warming Association. "The government responded too slowly and made errors. It need not have been this bad."
He said upstream dams did not release water early enough in the monsoon season so they had insufficient capacity to contain the huge volumes of rainwater that fell later. One of the three main flood channels running from the north to the south was shut off, adding to the pressure on the remaining two. As the water surged southward, Bangkok found itself more vulnerable than in the past because hundreds of its canals have been blocked up over decades of poorly regulated development. Political leaders then made matters worse by placing too high a priority on the city centre, which was kept dry at the expense of deeper water elsewhere.
The erratic climate may have confused decision makers.
At the start of the year, the primary concern was drought because the dry season in 2010 had been unusually severe. As a result, dam managers retained water in upstream reservoirs even after the first big rainfall in March, which was three times more than the average in northern Thailand. Faced by these extremes, it was difficult for dam managers to make judgments based on previous weather patterns. This is a key lesson of the flood.
"The difficulty of projecting droughts and floods will increase for sure," said Gernot Laganda, a climate specialist at the United Nations Development Program office in Bangkok. "We cannot rely on historic experience in managing these hazards. The world is not the same any more. Just because this is a once-in-a-century flood, we shouldn't assume that there won't be another like it for 100 years."
Faced by an increasingly "vicious interplay of prolonged droughts and fiercer bursts of rain", Laganda says it will be important to build strong monitoring systems and to start building climate flexible systems. Instead of building high walls and river defences today, he says it makes more sense to strengthen the foundations of existing structures so they can be raised as and when risks become more apparent.
The Bangkok governor, Sukhumbhand Paribatra, said the city needed to learn from the disaster. "It's a wake up call. We need to take a hard look at the problems that may arise from climate change and take a long-term perspective on how to deal with them." He has proposed more investment in flood mitigation and prevention, namely construction of more retention ponds, drainage tunnels and pumping stations. "It will cost a lot of money. But I don't think there is any other way unless we change our conceptual approach and allow some areas to be flooded during the flood season."
While a warming planet is part of the backdrop, engineers fear that it may be a distraction from the more pressing concerns of urban planning, erosion and sedimentation.
A debate is under way. Surajit Chirawate, who sits on the senate environment committee, says the government is making a mistake by relying on walls to deal with future floods. He believes Bangkok should be downsized and government offices should be relocated to higher ground. "People should not fight with the water. They should let it through. That is how we dealt with floods in the past. That is why Bangkok has so many canals. But now rich city dwellers are too distant from nature. What they are doing with their flood protection walls is actually increasing the level of the water."
Tension rose along with the water. Amid rumours that powerful politicians protected their own constituencies at the expense of neighbouring districts, several deluged communities turned to protest.
The most dramatic demonstration occurred at Yucharoen village near Don Mueng airport, where local residents furiously tore down a wall of sandbags.
"I was angry because the government did not help us until we protested," said Pattanan Thongsawad, who was among the demonstrators. "I wasn't thinking about fairness. I was only thinking about the people who were suffering."
A water mark is still visible in every home in the neighbourhood. Thongsawad said the village must prepare for similar disasters. "We want more concrete walls all the way around our community. That is the only way I'll feel secure. There will be more rain and more floods and we cannot rely on the government to deal with them."
With politics and climate both looking increasingly unpredictable, many now want more help but do not expect it.
"If it comes again, there is nothing we can do," said Sriburanasorn of Hana. "If every factory had to build its own flood defences, we wouldn't be able to afford to stay in business. The government must do it do restore confidence … I never want to go through that again."
Additional reporting by Sunisa Pui
Sean Augustin New Straits Times 27 Dec 11;
Group urges authorities to monitor offenders closely
MORE than 600 Indian Star Tortoises were sent home to India last week after the smuggled reptiles were rescued by the authorities a few months ago.
A total of 599 tortoises, stuffed into two luggage bags, were rescued in August after authorities noticed that no one claimed the bags at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
A month later, the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) confiscated another 100 tortoises in Malacca, and the owner was given a "very stern warning".
All the tortoises were either infants or juveniles.
Perhilitan consultant Burhanuddin Mohd Nor said the repatriation of the tortoises last Thursday was the first this year.
Despite the fact that the species cannot be imported into Malaysia and it is illegal to own one as a pet, the Indian Star Tortoises can be found in pet shops.
Anyone found to be in possession of the species can be fined up to a maximum of RM100,000 per animal or imprisoned up to seven years, under the International Trade of Endangered Species Act 2008.
"We would like to advise those keeping the tortoises as pets to come forward and surrender them to us," Burhanuddin said.
"We also hope that the public will inform us of pet shops that sell the species."
The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (Traffic) said the Malaysian government should monitor offenders closely as the trade seemed to be more visible now, although underground.
Its senior programme officer, Kanitha Krishnasamy, said the rescue of the 699 reptiles showed that the trade was very active and a major threat to the tortoises, especially in Southeast Asia.
It is important that offenders are prosecuted and made to bear the cost of repatriating the animals as the process is not cheap."
She added that Traffic appreciated that the Malaysian government worked with the Indian government to send the tortoises home, where they belonged and would be protected.
The Indian Star Tortoise, or geochelone elegans, is found in scrub forests in India and Sri Lanka.
The species is said to be quite popular in the exotic pet trade, although India has banned its export.
The reptile was only recently added to the First Schedule of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.
Posts
visitors since Nov 07