July 26, 2005

A man-made island in Langkawi? I'm not sure whether this a good news or a bad news. But, I think there's a good and bad side of everything that happens to us. Let's see the good side of it first. This is a development project for Langkawi and the developer's long term plan include building a light aircraft and amphibious vehicle complex, with hotels and commercial buildings, on the man-made island.

Wow! Langkawi is going to has another island added to its cluster - a 100 islands instead of the current 99 during high tide. 105 islands instead of 104 during low tide. This means that you'll have another island to discover during your visit to Langkawi. And, more job opportunities for the locals. This project is definitely good for the island's economy.

However, there's also a negative effect to the environment.

Universiti Malaya Associate Prof Dr Azhar Hussin warned that a more rigourous testing of the island's seabed and water flow changes is needed before approval of the proposed reclamation project at Langkawi's northern shore.

Due to a tsunami that hit Langkawi in last December, the seabed has shifted and if combined with any new reclaimed structure could change the hydrography of the area and change the way sediments is dissolved. This in turn could affect the growth of coral in the Langkawi.

Data from the Survey and Mapping Department (Jupem) reported last month showed that since the Dec 26 earthquake, the Sunda Plate on which peninsular Malaysia sits, had shifted westward.

Langkawi has moved 18cm to the west.

The're lots of corals to the north and east of three small islands, Pulau Pasir, Pulau Gasing and Pulau Dangli, near where the intended reclamation would be carried out.

These corals are natural wave-breakers and are vital to prevent large waves from coming to shore but some 30 per cent of coral in the area has been damaged.

Hmm...