Doubts over EIA for 1,000ha shrimp park

Doubts over EIA for 1,000ha shrimp park-2009/07/30

By sean Augustin

SETIU: Fishermen are casting doubts over an environmental impact assessment for a proposed 1,000ha Integrated Shrimp Aquaculture Park (iSHARP) here.

The project is by Blue Archipelago Berhad (BAB), a shrimp aquaculture company which is a subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Kampung Beris Tok Ko Coastal Fishermen Alliance chairman Malek Yunus said its members were aware of an EIA being conducted, but they were never fully informed about the project.

All they knew was that it was meant for a shrimp aquaculture project.

He said they also claimed that the consultants involved in the EIA went about asking villagers if they were interested in a job and if they agreed to the project.

"What can we do? We feel slighted that our needs were not taken into account.

"We are not against the park in any way, we just feel we should have been briefed properly. I think they should come back," he told reporters.

However, the EIA has stated that consultants have met the village security and development committees from Kampugn Rhu 10, Bukit Chalok, Penarik, Penarik Baru Kampung Mangkuk and Kampung Banggol.

Among the residual impacts listed in the EIA include habitat loss, water pollution due to sewage generation, siltation and sedimentation of Sungai Chalok and impact of salinity on the ecosystem in Sungai Chalok.

The project benefit listed is the creation of 1,500 jobs, while an estimated RM32 million is expected to flow into the communities in the next 20 years.

Malaysiana EHS Consultants Sdn Bhd managing director Dinesh Nadarajah, who did the EIA, said the study on the socio-economic impact was conducted in the nine villages located within 3km of the project site.

More than 800 households were visited and more than 90 per cent provided responses, he said. Kampung Beris Tok Ku was outside the 3km boundary, he added.

"Project information was provided together with a map of the project site and the villages surrounding the project site within the 3km radius," Nadarajah said.

"With respect to the claim by the local resident, he is welcome to review the EIA, submit his comment and response to the DOE, and to participate in the public consultation process as provided for in the EIA," he said, adding that interviews were also held with district level agencies, such as Forestry and Fisheries, as well as state level officials such as Perhilitan.

BAB could not be reached for comment.

World Wide Fund for Nature, which is part of the detailed EIA review panel, said its main concern was the intake of sea water.

The project is in a "gelam" forest area, a freshwater environment, while the shrimp needs salt water.

It is learnt that sea water will be pumped into the area.

WWF technical coordinator Daria Mathew said the effluent from the pond would be discharged back into the river which will affect the freshwater ecosystem.

"Even if they treat the effluence from the pond nothing can be done about its salinity," said Daria.

Malek will also be sending a petition to the Department of Environment to protest against this move.

p/s:wat will happen next...aku bet projek ni jln gak *-*..even local people pun tau benda tu akan bg kesan pd alam sekitar...apa guna laporan yang hanya menunjukkan nombor2 tanpa perlaksanaan yang betul