Villagers taking a risk eating beach clams

BALIK PULAU: Unaware of the dangers of faecal contamination, some villagers in Gertak Sanggul still dig for shellfish to eat.

A villager was spotted gathering clams centimetres below the sand and mud flats when The Star visited the beach after being told of piggery waste pollution besetting the place.

She collected two types of clams. From the mud flats, she dug out large ones in hues of grey, brown and white locally called kepah. Beneath the sandy beach, she dug out small, flatter ones called siput.

“When the high tide comes, I will collect cleaner seawater and soak the clams overnight with it before frying them,” said the woman, who declined to be named.

She did not comment when asked what she thought of the piles of sludge near her, except to say that in the case of siput, it would be cleaner because they hide in the sand, away from the sludge nearer to the water’s edge.

When told that the villagers still eat clams from the polluted beach, Datuk Prof Dr Aileen Tan expressed shock.

She warned that it could start a stomach flu epidemic while harmful pathogens could cross-contaminate other items in the kitchen before they were cooked.

Dr Tan, who is Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs) director, said soaking the clams overnight would not purge the pathogens.

“When oysters are depurated, they go through a system with continuously flowing filtered seawater exposed to UV ray for at least 24 hours. That will remove 98% of bacteria. Soaking overnight will not clean the clams,” she said.

Depuration is the process by which marine or freshwater animals are placed into a clean water environment for a period of time to allow purging of biological contaminants and physical impurities.