Struggling to survive: A number of fish barely able to swim in the dirty and shallow waters at the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park in George Town, Penang. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: The sight of hundreds of fish struggling to survive in the dirty and shallow waters of Prangin Canal is causing distress to the public.
Engineer CW Kong, 45, was upset when he saw the water was not deep enough to cover the fishes’ bodies at the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park here.
“The cichlids were swimming sideways and gasping for air with some parts of the canal having more mud than water..
“It was distressing to see the fish and even a tortoise in such a manner,” he said when met while visiting the recent Happy Meowment Charity Food Fair with his wife.
“The workers should be reprimanded for neglecting the cichlids when they were clearing out the 250m canal.
“They should have ensured that all the fish were fully cleared out before starting work,” he said, adding that he was told the canal was currently undergoing thorough cleaning.
Another visitor, who declined to be named, said it is good that the authorities are cleaning up the canal, which had turned deep green due to algae growth.
“I hope the canal water can be restored to when the park was first launched in 2019.
“I remember the water then was quite pristine. There were also colourful koi fish in the canal.”
Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng said the contractor had placed most of the fish, including the koi, in a temporary aquarium.
Once upon a time: A file picture of the once pristine canal filled with koi and other fish. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star
“The removal of the fish is still in progress. Once the cleaning is completed in two months, we will release all of them back into the canal.
“In October last year, there was a similar clean up of the canal.
“We removed 1,400 tilapia, 250 koi, eight patin and two tortoises then,” he said when contacted.
Teh added that the ecosystem became unbalanced due to the swelling population of fish coupled with the introduction of new species into the canal.
“At the outset, only koi and tilapia were introduced but as Sia Boey gained popularity as a public space and urban archaeological park, a growing number of people began feeding the fish.
“Some of them even released patin, catfish and tortoises into the water feature.
“This has altered the balance of the canal ecosystem with the additional excretions which caused an algae bloom,” he said.
Teh urged the public not to release any other types of fish into the canal which was designed as a closed loop self-sustaining water body.
He said the canal has a filtering system meant for a small number of fish that would work towards maintaining algae growth and preventing mosquito infestation.
The Sia Boey Rejuvenation Project was launched on March 24, 2018 to facilitate the coexistence of development and heritage conservation.
The project was spearheaded by the Penang Development Corporation and George Town World Heritage Incorporated.
