LABUAN: More than 20 beaches in this duty-free-island are facing erosion, with two of them at a critical stage.
Labuan Department of Irrigation and Drainage Director Juniaddi Awang Tuah said one of the two is at Kg Sg Miri/Sg Pagar and the other the Labuan Crude Oil Terminal (LCOT) Kiamsam beach.
“Based on a national coastal erosion study conducted in 2015 which is still relevant until today, more than 20 coastal areas were projected would be hit by erosion, and the study had predicted that the hardest-hit areas will be at the Sg Miri beach and Kiamsam,” he said.
He said the Government had approved RM11 million for the construction of sea wall at the worst affected part at Sg Miri/Sg Pagar beach.
“The 730-metre sea wall project commenced in November last year (2021) and is to be completed in two years (November 2023), whereas as for the LCOT beach, we provide technical advice to the oil company to do something about the matter,” he said.
He said the coast around this island is projected would be badly affected by erosion sooner or later if no mitigation measures were taken to reduce the impact.
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“In addition, measures by the Government to minimise the damage are predicted will become increasingly expensive,” he said.
Juniaddi said the two beaches (Sg Miri/Sg Pagar and LCOT) had been projected to be the worst affected for erosion due to their locations, that is facing the open South China Sea.
He also said his department had applied to the Ministry of Environment and Water for an allocation of RM20 million for coastal protection infrastructure at Tanjug Aru Nelayan beach.
