Stop-gap measure: Giant sandbags on Batu Ferringhi beach installed in September are now being washed away, exacerbated by climate change and weather phenomena. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: By burying 700 sandbags along a 250m stretch on Batu Ferringhi, contractors had reshaped the mildly sloping beach that the tourist spot was once famous for.
But that beach stretch lasted less than three months before the sea claimed it once more, the waves eating away at the sand.
“You cannot fight Mother Nature,” lamented a watersports operator, who only wanted to be called Mat.
Standing on the beach, he looked at the exposed giant sandbags that had been buried 2m deep into a section of Batu Ferringhi beach in January and September.
Measuring about the height of a man, they were made with heavy duty composite fabric and had held eight cubic metres of sand each.
Powerful waves whipped up by the northeast monsoon and further fuelled by the La Nina weather phenomenon have smashed into the contractors’ efforts, eroding the beach and exposing the sandbags that now look like a seawall of sorts.
Mat said the sea “has been crazy since last year”.
Late at night, during the full or new moon phases when the tides are at their strongest, Mat said he would go and check on his equipment – water scooters and boats – to make sure that they were firmly lashed down.
“Every day, we bring them all up to shore at the end of the day but I still check in case the waves crash deep inland,” he said.
Mat recalled the tsunami on Dec 26, 2004, during which 20 people were found drowned in Batu Ferringhi alone.
“Sometimes, late at night, when I look at the crashing waves, they remind me of that tsunami,” he said.
Along a 30m stretch near a public path to the Batu Ferringhi beach called Pasir Emas, many of the sandbags are all but gone.
They were torn apart by the waves and the sand in them wicked out a little bit every day until tourists now use them as low seats on the beach.
Penang infrastructure committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the giant sandbags were a short-term mitigation effort by the state Drainage and Irrigation Department to curb soil erosion.
Costing around RM1.02mil, they were borne by both the state and federal governments.
“We will redo the mitigation measure after the harsh tidal conditions subside. The state government is committed to keeping this short-term measure ongoing for the benefit of all beachgoers.
“We are applying for federal funds to build a river outfall as well as offshore breakwaters to obstruct the force of the waves and still keep currents moving to prevent sedimentation.
“It will cost RM20mil to RM30mil. It’s a tall order but we are fighting against global warming, rising sea levels and weather phenomenon like La Nina.
“Even in Bali, Indonesia, they have to build such structures to preserve their beaches,” he said yesterday.
Consumers Association of Penang senior education officer NV Subbarow called on those who had enjoyed Batu Ferringhi beach to reflect on the effects of global warming hitting the state’s beach asset.
“We urge the state government to apply permanent measures instead of spending public funds on measures that don’t last longer than a few months,” he said.
