Daily express news, 7-10-2006
Kota Kinabalu: Tanjung Aru Beach in the State's premier tourism belt is one of five stretches of land - or 12.8km out of the total 1,743km along the coastline of Sabah - that has been identified as "critically" under threat by erosion.
This means there is potential danger to life (squatters and residents) or properties or both.
The 3.5km beach has been classified by the Federal Government as Category 1 (a critical coastal erosion site), along with the Tinagat-Batu Puyong stretch near Tawau, Kota Kinabalu City Central-Yayasan Sabah stretch, Kg Contoh-Putatan and Meruntum-Lok Kawi.
Senior Assistant Director (Erosion Control) of the Department of Drainage and Irrigation (DID), Nor Hisham Ghazali, said these five areas were currently placed under observation for possible coastal protection works.
In the case of Tanjung Aru, he said it was placed under Category 1 due to development activities going on nearby. One portion of the 3km stretch of beach is devoid of structures while another portion is occupied by squatters and for which a RM40 Federal-funded project is due to be implemented once the squatters have been relocated.
According to the findings of the Federal-funded National Coastal Erosion Study, which was completed in 1985, approximately 295.5km of the State's 1.743km total coastline are eroding.
The study, conducted due to concerns over serious coastal erosion along the country's coastline, also classified another 3.5km as Category 2 (significant) and 279.2km as Category 3 (acceptable).
Nor Hisham said altogether there were 19 stretches of coastal areas in Sabah identified as eroding and placed under the three categories, according to the seriousness of their respective erosion problem.
He also said there was not much difference in terms of percentage of the total eroding coastline in Sabah compared to the previous findings, that put it at about 17 per cent of the total 1,743km coastline.
But the department is concerned over the increase in Category 1 areas in Sabah to 12.8km from the previous 5.7km, he said, adding this is probably due to the heavy development and the increase in urban population especially along the State's coast.
"We, together with our counterpart in the State, will continue to monitor these Category 1 areas so as to facilitate the next course of action to be taken," he said, adding a study needs to be done to evaluate, for instance, the economic concerns of a particular site before any decision is made to carry out coastal protection work.
