Tanjung Aru beach is a popular place for city folks during the weekend.
KOTA KINABALU: Environmentalists from a local online non-governmental organization (NGO) has rebutted Tanjung Aru Eco Development’s (TAED) claim that the Tanjung Aru beach and Prince Philip Park had been subjected to the effects of erosion for decades.
Save Open Space–Kota Kinabalu (SOSKK) coordinators S. M. Muthu and Jefferi Chang pointed out to reporters that the effects of erosion were only isolated to a small part of the third beach close to the runway extension project and Kampung Contoh.
“There’s a claim that 60 to 70 meters or even 100 meters of the beach had been washed away in the last 50 years,” said Muthu.
“I was here 45 years ago and I don’t see any disappearance of the beach or aru trees since then.”
He added: “I have spoken to many long-term residents and original Tanjung Aru citizens – they all say the same thing.”
According to them, decades of erosion would result in a worn-out coastal stretch, but instead the public can plainly see that this is not the case.
Muthu said according to their observation, there is a natural occurrence of seasonal build-up and loss of sand in and within the affected area.
He said this occurrence develops between the months of November to May during the North East Monsoon and between June and October during the South West Monsoon.
A build-up of five to 15 meters wide of beach sand occurs in the latter and a loss of between five to 15 metres of sand happens in the former occurrence.
“By the way, tell me, how can a project that seeks to fill up a natural beach and replace it with an artificial one be called eco-friendly?” said Muthu.
“If a good sounding name is needed, I suggest ‘EGO Development’ – that’s more appropriate don’t you think?”
According to Muthu, the SOSKK also questions the withstanding of the proposed man-made beach. He said to maintain a visible beach at high tide would require a total volume of 300,000 cubic metres of sand that would have to be imported from Balambangan Island.
The SOSKK coordinator added that the sand would only be washed away during the South West Monsoon.
“You would need to keep refilling the beach. They will say they have catered for this – RM45 million a year for the upkeep of park,” Muthu said. “Will such a budget be maintained?”
However, he said the NGO agrees with TAED’s decision to highlight Tanjung Aru Beach’s sewerage problems. But he stressed that the E-coli issue must be resolved by the government’s local authorities and not be used as an excuse to ignore environmental considerations.
Muthu maintains that SOSKK is not against the government and such a project.
“The problem is that the planners may not have known about the aesthetic, sentimental and heritage value of Tanjung Aru Beach,” he said. “They got the planning factor not the human factor – the citizen’s factor.”
Before wrapping up, Muthu also announced that SOSKK is also willing to attend the Sabah State Legislative Assembly sitting to present their findings.