GEORGE TOWN: Several giant Casuarina trees that have lined Batu Ferringhi beach since the 1950s have fallen since Friday under the hammering of spring tides.
And with worse sea conditions expected in the coming weeks, more of the venerable trees may yet be lost.
Since Friday, high tides reaching about 2.3m twice daily have been recorded along the coast.
With the full moon of Thaipusam occurring on Feb 2, high tides are predicted to exceed 2.4m.
Another round of even more erosive high tides is expected around Feb 17, when the new moon coincides with Chinese New Year and the start of the Ramadan fasting month.
These are forecast to reach about 2.5m.
Rough seas are expected again on March 3, the final day of the Chinese New Year celebrations, when the next full moon occurs.
Hari Raya Puasa, expected on March 21, will coincide with a new moon and heightened tidal conditions.
Historically, the early months of the year bring rough coastal waters to Penang.
Local resident Anas Zubedy, 62, said delays in the past had already resulted in irreversible loss.
“What many feared would happen if action was delayed is here now. Our old trees are gone. The damage is irreversible,” he said.
He questioned whether protecting the beachfront had been treated as a priority.
“And now the sea is steadily reclaiming one of our most important beaches.
“Please do not wait until these trees are gone. This is not a question of capability. It is a question of priority,” he said.
Anas said once mature coastal trees were destroyed by erosion, no amount of future landscaping could restore what was lost.
In recent years, hotel operators and local businesses had repeatedly raised concerns over severe beach erosion in Batu Ferringhi, with various mitigation measures reportedly undertaken.
The Star first reported visible signs of beach erosion at Batu Ferringhi in April 2021. At the time, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the problem drew little attention beyond the skeletal staff of a beach resort.
The erosion had then been only at the eastern end of the beach, destroying parts of the resort’s seaside structure.
The fall of the Casuarina trees this week occurred more than 750m west of the original erosion site identified five years ago.
In 2022, about RM1mil was spent to bury 700 large sandbags along a 250m stretch of the beach, while an earlier RM250,000 federal allocation had been approved for additional sandbags.
Despite these measures, erosion worsened.
Last year, the Federal Government approved a total allocation of RM61mil to address severe coastal erosion along a seven-kilometre stretch covering Batu Ferringhi and Tanjung Bungah, two of Penang’s key tourist spots.
The comprehensive coastal protection project, expected to take about six years to complete, includes the construction of breakwaters and other mitigation measures aimed at stabilising the coastline and protecting beaches.
