Shipowner to pay RM300,000 for restoring coral reef

KOTA KINABALU: The owner of a Sarawak-registered merchant ship has agreed to pay RM300,000 for restoring a live reef within a marine park in Kudat.

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew said the owner of the MV Lewang reached a settlement with Sabah Parks.

“Initially, they offered only a RM100,000 compensation but we had rejected the amount as it will take years to allow the live reef to regenerate again,” she said after launching the Tanjung Aru Beach Festival here today.

Sabah Parks have yet to release the merchant ship until the company settles the compensation within the allowed period of two weeks.

Last month, the MV Lewang was found stranded in shallow waters about five nautical miles from Pulau Kalampunian in Kudat, destroying a sizeable amount of coral reef.

Sabah Parks detained the cargo ship and closed the site to divers to allow its officers to investigate the damage to the coral.

The waters off Kudat have been gazetted as the Tun Mustapha Marine Park and form part of the Coral Triangle Initiative involving six nations including Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. - FMT