Tanjong Bin development needs further study 救救海马，救救蒲莱河

The public and environmentalists have raised their concerns about the development of petrochemical and maritime industries at the Tanjung Bin, along Sungai Pulai Estuary in Pontian, Johor.

A preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment report was submitted by the project’s proponent Seaport Worldwide Sdn Bhd. The assessment was carried out by Hijau Sekitar Sdn Bhd.

I regret to say that some misleading, erroneous and inaccurate information has been found in the Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment report. In this respect, the Department of Environment should direct Seaport Worldwide to submit a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) report.

According to the preliminary EIA report, activities within the project site such as oil storage, ship building and repairing, grit blasting and heavy metal fabrication will be done at a wetlands area, which is adjacent to a Ramsar site. This development will impact enormously on the wetlands and affect the livelihood of the fishermen nearby.

(The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.)

There will be a broad-scale clearing of 2,255 acres of mangrove forest which can be approximated to 913 soccer fields - this will disappear permanently from the global map.

We found that some conclusions in the preliminary EIA report have been merely assumed. For instance, the report states that ‘it is expected that the seagrass beds will regenerate themselves’ after the rivers are dredged.

In fact, the seagrass beds found at the river bank of Sungai Pulai are the most extensive seagrass beds in the country. There are at least 10 types of seagrass growing there which also serve as homes to various types of marine life on which local fishermen rely on.

The formation of seagrass beds take a long time. A bed requires specific conditions of water depth, water quality, sunlight, nutrients and much more. Who can ensure that after such heavy polluted industries, the seagrass beds will still be preserved?

Another serious error in the EIA report was the lack of consultation in its assessment. The seahorse species which are found in Sungai Pulai is of the Hippocampus Kuda variety and not the Hippocampus Denise. The latter are the smallest seahorses in the world which can only be found in deep water coral reefs.

Additionally, the report did not mention marine life such as the pipefish and dugongs which are listed in the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and which will be threatened by the development.

The preliminary EIA report also claims that there is a 500m buffer zone between the industrial site and the Ramsar site. It is doubted that with such a short distance between the industrial site and the wetlands area, how can the authorities ensure that the heavy industries will not destroy the Ramsar site?

Currently, there are five Ramsar sites in Malaysia. According to Ramsar convention, should there be any drastic changes in the ecological character of our lands as a result of industrial development, pollution or other human interference, Malaysia will be listed on the Montreux Record which indicates that we have failed in preserving our wetland heritage. This will certainly tarnish the image of our country.

Clearly, the Tanjung Bin preliminary EIA report is too simplistic and lacks professionalism. The Department of Environment should direct the developers to submit a detailed EIA report which should outline the full affect of development in the area.

Also allow the general public to have a say in the matter, as in the long run, it is the people’s children who will inherit these lands. And who is to say that they will want perished wetlands?

(This was published in Malaysiakini.com)

民主行动党秘书长环境事务专员邓晓璇于2007年8月10日在八打灵再也发表声明：

由于初阶环境评估报告出现误导性、错误的、不正确的资讯及结论，我们促请环境局指示柔佛州丹绒宾石油化学及海事工业发展商呈交详细环境报告（Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment）

我们接获来自公众的投诉，针对柔佛州丹绒宾石油化学及海事工业发展商Seaport Worldwide 私人有限公司所提呈的初级环境评估报告提出他们的看法。

由于上述重工业发展计划与国际世界湿地保护区毗邻，同时即将影响当地的渔民生计，因此，我们对于有关发展计划将产生的深远影响表示高度关注。

根据Hijau Sekitar私人有限公司为上述发展商所进行的环境评估，这项重工业发展计划将导致2255英亩（或913公顷）的湿地被砍伐。这意味着，将会有相等于近913个足球场那么大片的湿地将会从地图上消失。

我们注意到，有关环境评估报告出现一些未经专业研究的所得出的结论。例如：有关报告认为海草床在加深海床、河道工程时会自然生长回来。

事实上，蒲莱河岸、河口一带的海草床是全国海草最密集的地区，生长着至少10种海草，是各种各样海洋生物的温床，也是当地渔民渔获量的来源。

海草床的形成并非一朝一夕的事，它需经历一段很长的时期。它需要特定条件如：水温、浪潮、水质、阳光、营养等，谁能够确保在发展石油化学及海事工业等具污染记录的工业后，有关环境评估报告是否有任何缓减环境影响的方式，确保海草床能被完整地保留下来？

此外，上述环境评估报告中另一个严重错误，是将生长在蒲莱河一带的黄金海马（Hippocampus Kuda）的学名写成Hippocampus Denise，后者是一种世界上最小的海马，只能在深海珊瑚礁处才能见到，这项错误显示出有关环境评估过程并没有进行多方面的咨询。同时，有关报告也未列出其它已被国际自然与自然资源保护联盟（IUCN）列为受保护生物的海牛、海龙。

我们也置疑，用以发展重工业的湿地地段与国际湿地保护区之间的缓冲带仅仅相隔500公尺，有关当局如何保证在上述将排放重金属等污染物的工业不会对国际湿地保护区造成影响？

目前，我国共有5个湿地被列为国际湿地保护区。根地1971年国际湿地公约，若上述湿地的生态环境因科技发展、污染或人类活动而改变，我国将被列入蒙特列记录（Montreux Record）届时，我国将因湿地保护工作失败而名誉扫地。

有鉴于以上种种原因，我们认为上述初阶环境评估报告针对发展地段的生态环境所做的考察及所提出的环境影响减缓措施过于简单、草率、不专业，因此，我们促请环境局指示发展商及其环境顾问缴交一份“详细环境评估报告”，以允许公众针对其内容 进入深入的审核及讨论，让大家讨论我们是否要留下一片毁坏不堪的湿地给未来的孩子？

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