SEMPORNA: Divers and conservationists have expressed their dismay and anger over the damage caused to corals off Mabul island by a barge laden with construction material yesterday.
The world-famous dive site, known as Paradise One, is favoured by many international divers and is also home to rare species of coral, many of which were identified in WWF-Semporna's prestigious Hard Coral Mapping Project.
The dive site is renowned for its night dives, and also as a training site for Reef Check Malaysia Eco-diver courses.
According to a resort manager, who requested anonymity, the heavily-loaded vessel arrived in Mabul waters last night with building materials for a government project on the island.
The manager, upon seeing the barge stationed off the reef, had tried to intervene.
"When we saw the barge stationed off the reef, I went and spoke to the contractor based on the island. I explained that a barge this size was too big to safely land on Mabul.
"I explained that the draft of the barge was larger than the water space available even at high tide, and that if he tried to land the barge, it would get stuck on the coral reef and cause considerable damage.
However, the manager's advice wasn't heeded.
"I'm so sad that the contractor did not heed my advice or warnings. The damage is devastating to see."
Adzmin Fatta, co-founder of local conservation group Green Semporna, voiced his dismay over the damage to the reef.
"We have been carrying out successful marine conservation outreach programmes with the local community on Mabul for many years now.
"Many of our volunteers are horrified to know of the damage. We carried out many beach cleanups in that particular area to protect the corals there."
A Mabul resort owner, who also wished to remain anonymous, said: "It is heartbreaking to see a large part of Paradise One destroyed so quickly.
"We fully understand the importance of building infrastructure on the island for security purposes, and we are grateful for this and for the tireless work of the security forces.
"However, we had hoped that this would be done in an environmentally-responsible manner. Mabul is a well-known tourism destination with tourists traveling thousands of miles to visit.
"There are many threats facing marine ecosystems today, but we are proud of the fact that many tourism operators on Mabul have worked together to alleviate these threats in the past," he said, adding they want to build the island's reputation for responsible tourism and maintain the health of our coral reefs without which people would have no livelihoods.
The collaborative work of the resorts and dive centres on Pulau Mabul in caring for their marine environment has been well noted in the past.
Dive operators often work together in beach and reef cleans, as well as addressing other threats to their marine environment.
One well documented example was the Crown-of-thorns seastar (COTS) outbreak on the island in 2018, where over 9,000 COTS were lifted from the reefs around the island in three weeks.
If left unchecked, the COTS would have decimated the coral colonies, destroying the reefs around the island. This collaborative effort involved all the operators on the island, representatives from Reef Check Malaysia, the Sabah Tourism Board and had assistance from the Semporna District Office.
"Such care and attention for our reefs in the past makes this careless damage all the more devastating," said the resort Manager.
Meanwhile, Reef Check Malaysia general manager Julian Hyde said it was dreadful to hear of the damage to Paradise One on Mabul.
The particular reef, he said, is not only one of their annual survey sites but also notable as a training reef for RCM courses.
"Many of the key indicator species for Reef Check could be found along Paradise One – illustrating how diverse that particular reef was.
"It can take many years for reefs to re-generate properly, especially with additional stresses such as coral bleaching, which has been noted in the Semporna area recently.
"I sincerely hope this is not the case for this particular reef, and I urge care and caution for further work at that site."
Former state Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Datuk Christina Liew, who is also Tawau member of parliament, also expressed her sorrow over the reported destruction of the reef.
"I have received feedback from tourism players and environmentalists who are dismayed over the unfortunate incident. They have spent years protecting this creation of nature, only to be demolished by irresponsible humanity.
"This state of affairs warrants an explanation from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, which is entrusted with the responsibility of conserving the state's precious natural heritage," she said.