The next two to three years will be the most difficult time for the fishing community in Pengerang following the oil spill at Pasir Panjang Terminal (PPT) in Singapore on June 14.
It was reported a Netherlands-flagged dredging boat hit a stationary Singapore-flagged bunker vessel at PPT, causing Singapore’s biggest oil spill in over a decade.
Safe Johor River founder Poh Pai Yik said the mangrove forest along Sungai Rengit, Pengerang in Kota Tinggi, Johor was likely to die from the impact of the oil spill.
“The seawater tainted by oil is likely to enter the river during high tide.
“The mangrove trees are on the river banks.”
Poh said the first to die would be the mangrove saplings submerged in water that had been contaminated by the oil spill.
He said the saplings had no chance of growing, while the mature mangrove trees would die slowly over time as the oil sticks to their root systems.
“The dying mangrove forests will no longer be suitable as breeding grounds for marine life,” said Poh.
He said mangrove forests were sanctuaries and breeding grounds for udang galah (freshwater prawns), ketam bangkang (mud crabs), edible sea snails and certain types of fish.
Poh said mangroves not only connected the land to the open sea but they were also connected to mudflats, seagrass and nearshore islands and coral reefs.
He said it was a straightforward process to clean up oil spills on beaches, but cleaning up contaminated mangrove forests would be more complicated.
“Mangrove replanting is also not the solution because years are needed before the affected areas are really clean and free from contamination.”
Malaysian Nature Society president Vincent Chow said Johor government should sue the parties responsible for the oil spill disaster at PPT.
“Apart from the Pengerang fishing community, the hospitality and tourism sector at Desaru Coast will also be affected for years to come.”
Chow said the fishermen would lose their source of income as they would not be able to fish, since seawater contaminated with chemicals was no longer suitable for marine life.
He said the state government needed to look at ways to assist these fishermen as their livelihoods would be affected for the next few years.
“The food chain link is interrupted including the lobster population of which Pengerang is famous for.
“We might not see lobster breeding in the areas until the water is cleared from chemical contaminations,” said Chow.
He also urged the relevant authorities to start identifying whether the oil spills had reached Pulau
Bom, the nearest island to Pengerang, which is also a bird sanctuary.
“Birds inhabiting the bomb-shaped island depend on marine life, including fishes in their diet. If the fishes are gone, the birds will be gone too,” said Chow.
He added that apart from Desaru Coast, islands off South China Sea in Mersing could also be affected from the oil spills because of the southeast wind blowing from Singapore.
“The oil spills could also travel as far as Pulau Tioman in Pahang,” said Chow.