Published on: Monday, December 28, 2009 |
Regular beachgoers alerted Daily Express about a strange phenomena happening to its sandy shore - blotches of green algae that emits a smell when disturbed.
They said it is evidence that years of unchecked discharge of sewage effluents from hawker stalls, residences, condominiums and restaurants in the township - aiming ironically to be the nation's first litter-free one at that despite floating garbage in two stilt settlements nearby - is beginning to take its toll.
"Or else this eurtrophication will destroy the State's most famous and important beaches and coastal ecosystems," said a concerned picnicker.
For those who care to check it out, mats of fibrous green and muddy scum have begun replacing what used to be a broad sweep of nice sandy beach that was so good to jog on.
The cause is not difficult to pin point - a non-stop flow of foul smelling black sewage into the sea down a drain by the side of a slew of hawker stalls at one end and raw sewage spilling out of an overflowing septic tank near the entrance to Jalan Selangor, at the other end.
This sort of non-stop sewage discharge is punishing our best beach with excess nutrients that stimulate and feed excessive algae growth often called algal bloom - a process that reduces dissolved oxygen in the water especially when the algae material decomposes.
Famous marine scientist and environmental Activist, Prof. David Bellamy once said in KK that the sea cannot be "over-productive", meaning over-feeding the sea will create an over-abundance of nutrients.
What this means is that the extra nutrients would feed the algae but not the fish.
It ends up promoting excessive plant growth and decay which favours simple algae and plankton over more complicated and desirable marine life, causing severe reduction in water quality.
This enhanced growth of choking aquatic vegetation, phytoplankton and muddy scum disrupt normal functioning of the marine ecosystem, causing a variety of problems such as the loss of clean white sand, the lack of oxygen needed by shellfish and fish to survive.
Local women used to scour the sandy beds of Tanjung Aru beach for delicious bivalves but they have lost it all to terrible pollution and increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients.
The biggest irony is that Tanjung Aru beach is practically next door to the relevant State and Federal government departments and yet environmental protection has blatantly failed.
The problem at Tanjung Aru is not peculiar to Kota Kinabalu, although the original source of the discharge in this instance is not difficult to trace.
All towns and cities throughout Malaysia practically release non-stop discharge of contaminated sewage wastes into the sea.
Which is why Sabah must insist on Zero Discharge in all development especially coastal development, by working seriously on a re-engineering process, starting now.
A responsible and committed response is long overdue in view of the fact that mega development in Sabah is forging feverishly ahead everywhere but the environmental protection measures remain rudimentary, despite the existence of a Department entrusted with the job.
