‘Crony’ contractor destroying mangroves

Sarawak PKR wants stern action against a 'crony' contractor who is deliberately destroying an important swampland.

KUCHING: A contractor, once allegedly aligned to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, has angered oppostion PKR here with his “wanton and deliberate destruction” of a large area of swampland near Santubong.

Calling for stern action against the contractor, state PKR chief Baru Bian said: “We must not let the wanton and deliberate destruction of the little we have left goes unpunished.

“I suspect this contractor’s modus operandi is to clear the land as a pre-emptive strike while the project is still under consideration, and expects that the project will become a fait accompli.

“The contractor is literally bulldozing his way through and the authorities are persuaded to approve the project as he has already started work.

“It must be made clear to him that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable and he must bear the consequences.”

The clearance of the swamp is said to be connected to a proposed cable car project at Santubong, which is still under feasibility study.

The project was proposed by the Sarawak Ministry of Tourism.

Bian, who is Ba’ Kelalan assemblyman, however declined to name the contractor. But he said it was “common knowledge” in Kuching that the contractor was “once a crony” of Mahathir and Taib.

He, however, fell out of favour after Mahathir stepped down in October 2003.

“The contractor must be taken to task for this highly irresponsible and thoughtless act,” Bian said, praising several ministers who have spoken against the illegal destruction of the mangrove swamp.

He said that to the contractor, the site might have just been a piece of swampland with the potential of making him millions, but the mangrove is one of the most critical of coastal vegetation types, which not only protected the coast from erosion but also acted as nursery and breeding grounds for fish and other marine organisms.

“Besides the crucial role of mangrove forests for marine lives, the mangrove is also the natural habitat of various animal lives such as the proboscis monkey, a protected species which only eats mangrove leaves.

“The mangrove forest or swamp has also been acknowledged to be an effective tsunami barrier,” said Bian.

He pointed out that already a large area of the mangrove swamps had been destroyed and filled up for industrial development.

“Now we must do everything to preserve what little we have left, or else the fishing industry will suffer the consequences.

“The authorities are aware of the negative consequences of the destruction of our mangrove forests as evidenced by the implementation of remedial measures like the rehabilitation and restoration of coastal mangrove forests by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry,” he said.