Palm Oil Spills In Malaysian Waters, Harvests 300 Kg Of Shells Per Day Stops

Illustration. Green shells are transported by fishermen to Muara Angke Pier, Penjaringan, Jakut, Sunday 17 September 2023. (ANTARA-Bayu Pratama S)

JAKARTA - More than 100 fishermen, including 27 shell cultivators in Pasir Putih Village, Malaysia, were affected by the oil spill in the coastal waters of the village.

The head of the White Sand Village Fisherman Association, Hamzah Allahdita, said the spill was suspected of being palm oil and was detected on Thursday 30 afternoon.

He estimates the spill has spread up to one kilometer (km) and is thought to have come from a palm oil processing plant.

"The oil followed the flow of water and some of the sea surface was clearly covered with a yellowing layer," he told Bernama when met at the village pier, quoted from Bernama, Sunday, November 2.

Hamzah added that many fishing boats were also affected by the oil spill.

This disruption, he said, has affected the main source of income for fishermen in Pasir Putih Village who work as fisheries and shell cultivation.

As a result of this incident, the harvest of shells was also temporarily suspended for 2-3 days waiting for officers to address this incident, as well as to ensure the safety of the foodstuffs.

However, Hamzah said, no shells or fish were reported to have died as a result of the incident.

"The shells are still alive, but when we clean them, they are oily and customers won't buy them in such conditions," he explained.

An operator of the shell raft, Faizul Friday Ismail, said he had to temporarily stop the harvest, which usually reaches more than 300 kilograms of his daily catch.

"My estimated loss is around 20,000 ringgit because we can't continue our work or sell our products," he said.

Faizul hopes that the impact of the spill will not drag on and affect their livelihoods for too long.

Monitoring was named at the location, about 30 officers were involved in carrying out cleaning operations.

Workers use various methods including spraying water, welding, and removing residual oil from the seabed.

A representative from the cleaning company said the process is expected to take two to three days.

He said, this operation aims to restore coastal waters to clean and safe conditions for fishing activities.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Police of the Natural Series District, run Mohd Sohaimi Ishak, said 10 police reports had been filed by fishermen regarding the incident.

He confirmed that the investigation into the oil spill was ongoing.