Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang (CAP) menggesa kerajaan Pulau Pinang membatalkan projek tambak laut yang akan dilaksanakan di Permatang Damar Laut dekat Batu Maung di sini kerana ia boleh menjejaskan alam sekitar dan kehidupan 300 nelayan pantai di kawasan itu.
Dalam tinjauan yang dibuat, selain zon tangkapan nelayan pantai akan menjadi sempit, CAP mendapati perkampungan mereka dan hutan di sepanjang Pantai Indah di sini juga akan turut musnah jika projek berkenaan diteruskan.
Ketika ini kerja-kerja mengukur dan menanda kawasan sedang dilakukan oleh pihak pemaju yang terlibat dengan projek berkenaan. CAP kesal kerana penduduk tempatan tidak diberitahu secara resmi oleh kerajaan negeri ini dan mereka tidak mengetahui tujuan sebenar projek tersebut menyebabkan ramai merasa bimbang memikirkan kehidupan masa depan mereka.
CAP menggesa kerajaan Pulau Pinang mendedahkan kepada umum apakah tujuan sebenar projek tambak laut akan dilaksanakan di kawasan ini. CAP bimbang jika projek ini dilaksanakan ia bukan saja boleh mengancam aktiviti dan kehidupan nelayan tempatan, tetapi juga boleh menjejaskan alam sekitar di kawasan itu.
Nasib nelayan di Permatang Damar Laut akan sama seperti yang di hadapi oleh nelayan-nelayan di Tanjong Tokong dan Sungai Gelugor jika kawasan tangkapan mereka ditambak untuk projek pembangunan.
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Justeru CAP berharap kerajaan negeri ini membatalkan rancangan projek tersebut, sebaliknya membantu nelayan di kawasan ini meningkatkan hasil tangkapan mereka dan menyelesaikan masalah ancaman pencemaran sisa lumpur yang sudah lama berlaku, dan hingga sekarang ia belum dapat ditangani secara berkesan, malah keadaan tersebut kini semakin serius mencemarkan laut di kawasan berkenaan.
CAP kesal terdapat sisa lumpur yang tebal mendap di kawasan pantai di sini dan ramai pengunjung yang datang kecewa dengan kejadian tersebut. Selain laut tercemar dengan serius, masalah ini juga turut menyebabkan sumber perikanan terancam dan hasil tangkapan nelayan merosot lebih 50 peratus sejak ia mula berlaku dua tahun yang lalu.
Para nelayan pantai di sini mendakwa mereka sukar untuk melabuhkan pukat kerana tersangkut pada sisa kayu atau besi menyebabkan ia menjadi rosak. CAP meminta kerajaan Pulau Pinang menyiasat masalah ini dan membantu nelayan terbabit yang sudah sekian lama hidup sengsara akibat kejadian itu. Pampasan sewajarnya perlu diberikan kepada mereka bagi meringankan beban tanggungan sara hidup keluarga masing-masing.
SM Mohamed Idris ialah presiden Consumers Association of Penang (CAP).
CAP urges Penang government to scrap reclamation project
The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) urges the Penang government to scrap the reclamation project which is proposed at Permatang Damar Laut near Batu Maung here as it will affect the environment, lifves and livelihood of 300 coastal fishers in this area.
In our survey, CAP found that in addition to the coastal fishing zone becoming narrower, the fishing village and forest along Pantai Indah here will also be destroyed if the project is implemented.
At present the project developers are conducting survey and marking work. CAP is disappointed that local residents were not officially informed by the state government regarding the impending reclamation project. The locals do not know the real purpose of the project and are worried about their future.
CAP urges the state government to make public the real purpose of the reclamation project in this area. CAP is concerned that if the project is implemented, it will not only threaten the lifves and activities of local fishers, but will also affect the surrounding environment. The fate of the fishers in Permatang Damar Laut will be the same as fishers in Tanjong Tokong and Sungai Gelugor if their fishing areas are reclaimed for development projects.
Thus CAP hopes that the state government will cancel the project. Instead the state should assist the fisher community in this area to increase their catch and solve the long-standing problem of sludge pollution that has yet to be effectively tackled and has become more serious now.
CAP’s investigation found that thick sludge has settled on the coast here, and many visitors to the beach here are disappointed to see this sedimentation. Apart from seriously polluting the sea, this problem also causes a threat to fish resources, and the fishing catch has declined by over 50 per cent since the problem started two years ago.
The coastal fishers here claim it is difficult to cast their fishing nets as it is often damaged due to getting entangled with drift wood or iron rods. CAP requests the state government to investigate the matter and help the affected fishers, who have long been living in misery due to the pollution problem. Adequate compensation should be given to the fishers to reduce their families’ burden of living.
SM Mohamed Idris is president of the Consumers Association of Penang.
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