Friday November 6, 2009
Heritage tin dredge in danger of sinking
By FOONG THIM LENG
IPOH: The country’s only surviving tin dredge in Tanjung Tualang, about 60km from here, is in danger of sinking within six months if funds are not available to repair its pontoons.
The heritage dredge, T.T. No 5, has tilted 18% into the water on the starboard side at the stern.
Steven Ng, a manager of Osborne & Chappel Sdn Bhd, responsible for managing the dredge as a tourist attraction, said the tilting started in November last year.
“The electricity bill for operating two pumps to remove the water to prevent the tilt came to RM1,800 a month since December.
Last one standing: Ng posing for the camera in front of the T.T. No 5 dredge which has tilted and is in danger of flipping over. “If nothing is done to repair the pontoons supporting the dredge, it will just flip over and sink,” he said in an interview.
Ng said it would be sad to lose the dredge as the state would not only lose a tourist attraction but a heritage.
“The public would also not have any more opportunity to visit a dredge and to learn about the history of the Kinta Valley which was the richest tin mining district in the world at one time,” he said.
T.T. No 5 was built in 1938 by W.F. Payne & Sons for Pernas Chartered Management Sdn Bhd. Once belonging to Southern Malayan Tin Dredging (M) Sdn Bhd, the dredge had scoured for tin ore in the Kinta Valley for 44 years until operations stopped in 1983 due to the collapse of the tin mining industry.
The dredge was open for public viewing on Jan 1, 2008 after the Perak government had spent over half a million ringgit to develop it into an attraction.
Ng claimed the dredge did not received support in terms of promotion from Tourism Malaysia.
An entry fee of RM5 is charged for an adult and children only need to pay RM3.
The fee includes a presentation and a tour by a guide.
He said the tour had now been restricted to the lower deck because of the impending danger.
“We hope the state government will take the heritage and the state’s history into consideration and help save the last dredge in the country.”
Ng also appealed to former tin miners in the state to come forward to save the dredge.
He said the company had plans to set up a model palong to depict how gravel-pump tin mining operated and also have fruit orchards, vegetable plots and fish ponds to show visitors the alternative source of livelihood for thousands of tin mine workers who lost their jobs when the tin market crashed in 1985.
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