Penang green lung turned into dumpsite

Calling for action: SAM staff holding up banners protesting the dumping of waste in the cleared mangrove swamp land in Lintang Bayan Lepas, Batu Maung in Penang.

GEORGE TOWN: Part of a 20ha mangrove swampland, the last green lung in Batu Maung, has now become a dumping ground for construction and industrial waste.

Unscrupulous people, under the pretext of clearing the forest, allegedly razed a portion of the mangrove swamp a week ago to create a bigger dumping ground.

The damage was done despite the land, which is the size of four football fields, totalling about 4ha of the 20ha land, being highlighted recently for illegal clearing and reclamation.

Newsmen who were taken by Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) staff members to the site in Batu Maung here yesterday found tons of excavated construction waste, concrete piles, auto and electronic parts as well as plastic waste scattered throughout the area.

SAM president S.M. Mohamed Idris said a river across the mangrove swamp turned brackish, believed to be leachate from the indiscriminate dumping.

“Recently, waste material disposed of at the dumpsite caught fire and scorched some of the mangrove trees fringing the open ground.

“The land is close to the Penang Inter­national Airport and factories in the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone.

“Any major fire would bring severe damage to this area,” he said.

It is learnt that the land, owned by the directorate-general of Land and Mines Department, and under the custody of the National Fisheries Department, has been rented out to a private company.

On Dec 26 last year, the Penang Island City Council issued a stop-work order when the issue of illegal clearing and reclamation was revealed.

Mohamed Idris also took the authorities to task for allowing lorries to enter the area, trespassing a federal land and a protected mangrove swamp.

“This is the last surviving mangrove swamp in Batu Maung, and it should be given better protection. The government should ensure it is fully protected and conserved in perpetuity,” he said.

Earlier, Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka), an NGO, submitted a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com­mis­sion, urging the agency to probe why a protected mangrove land was being rented out to a private company.

Peka had said that the rented out land measured 2ha but the tenants had cleared and reclaimed up to 4ha of the mangrove forest.

Batu Maung assemblyman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain and state Fisheries Depart­ment officials could not be reached for comment.