SOSKK on Tg Aru Project: "Do It Elsewhere!"

Save Our Beach says, "WE are not against the government, WE are not against the project" but do it elsewhere.

1) WE are not against the government – WE just want to point out certain things, so that, the decisions made by the government would be the right decision and be beneficial to the rakyat of the present generation and generations to come. We don’t want the government to be misled by certain people.

2) WE are not against the project – it’s a beautifully done piece of work – hundreds or thousands of man hours must have gone into it. It’s a waste to throw it away. The problem is that the planners may not have known about the aesthetic, sentimental and heritage value of Tg. Aru Beach.

They got the planning factor not the human factor – the citizens’ factor.

That’s why WE say do it somewhere else – Sabah is rich land-wise. Go to the South or North – there are plenty of sandy beaches. Of course you have to pay for it and go through the necessary procedures and process.

It has been often stated that this project is to ‘Save Tg. Aru from erosion’ – if so, show us your studies that was specifically done on that and which says:

1. That Tg. Aru beach will be washed away in 20 years.
2. That the BEST way to save the beach is to reclaim it.

If this project is due to the consultants’ suggestions to resolve the problems – I can only ask “Is this the best the consultants can do?” Let’s have a second opinion then. We can recommend some better consultants.

This study must be done by independent consultants – not one appointed by the project proponents whether government, private or government-owned private. And the Terms of Reference must be specific, namely: The problems facing Tg. Aru Beach and the BEST way to overcome it, with the least damage to the beach and environment.

Our observation is that the build-up and loss of sand is seasonal: Every year there is a buildup of new sand between the months of November to May (5m and 15m wide during the North East Monsoon) and a loss of beach sand between June and October (5m and 15m during the South West Monsoon).

Grand press conferences have been held by the project proponents, with a line-up of ministers, senior civil-servants etc. Unfortunately most are – ‘yang menurut perintah’ or “I who obey orders” – and they have not been given the full or real picture. They have not asked the relevant questions like, “Can the beach be saved without reclamation?”

WE will prove to you and you can see for yourselves – Tg. Aru Beach is not under threat from erosion. If there are threats, they come from real-estate prospectors – they can see GREEN, yes but only the GREEN BUCKS in anything and have no respect for the GREEN ENVIRONMENT.

By the way, tell me, how can a project that seeks to fill-up a natural beach and replace it with an artificial one be called ‘eco-friendly’? It must be a joke. Even the English Language is being murdered to justify what is wrong. If a good sounding name is needed, I suggest “EGO Development” – that’s more appropriate you think?

There’s a claim that 60 to 70 meters or even 100meters of the beach has been washed away in the last 50 years. I was here 45 years ago and I don’t see any disappearance of the beach or aru trees since then. I have spoken to many long-term residents and original Tg. Aru citizens – they say the same thing.

There is erosion, yes, but on the other side of the runway – like in Kg. Contoh etc. And for your information, the developers wouldn’t have told you - they are due to the runway extension project. Was an EIA done for that? When? Where did they get their sand from? Were mitigation measures followed? The erosion could mean that the EIA was not enforced or faulty. I don’t know who the consultants were.

But you can see NOW, there is some work being carried out and I think they are to re-enforce the runway and prevent erosion. They have also constructed sea-walls. This, in itself, or with some more sea-walls out there, can check the erosion on the beach near the runway.

And there is a claim that in the next 20 years there’ll be no Prince Philip Park or aru trees – yes, that could be true if the project is implemented.


One thing they stated was TRUE – the e-coli factor. It was good of them to point to that BUT that is a failure of the local authorities, of the government. And they cannot use dereliction of duties or incompetence as an excuse to brush away or brush aside environmental considerations. Then everyone can use that excuse.

As for the new man-made beach – it won’t last long if it is completed. Why?

Some quick facts:

1. The outer edge of the reclamation for resorts is in 2+ m of water at low tide. Thus a massive brake-water at least 5-6m high will be required. Requiring about 250,000 M3 hard rock (350,000Mt) for the beach front alone.
2. To have a visible beach at high tide 4m of sand would have to be imported requiring a total volume of 180,000Mt or 300,000Mt. (poor Balambangan) You can build it but –
3. This material would almost certainly be washed away during the South West Monsoon, as the sea bed slopes down to minus 5m (16ft) depth at low tide immediately in front of the proposed reclamation.
   So: 
4. You need to keep refilling the beach. They will say they have catered for this – RM45million a year for upkeep of park. Will such a budgeting be maintained?
5. Will they go on spending this amount of money each year? How much do they spend now? Where will they source the sand? Strip all the islands of Sabah?

That is why WE suggest the best alternative would be to have a special study of the beach itself – what are the problems and how to resolve them. Let all land between Jalan Selangor and the beach be reserved for recreational benefit camping grounds, skating rinks, exercise arenas, open theatres, training centers etc. The rest of the lands can be turned into a great City Park, rainforest or not. That may draw more tourists to Sabah.

I agree with the proponents – WE owe it to our children, our grandchildren and our great grandchildren - to protect the Environment for them and future generations. Then WE cannot let this reclamation to go on.

Let the people judge and decide what they want – give them the TRUE facts, all the facts.

Don’t mislead them with dream-posters and computer-generated perfect bliss.

SM Muthu / Jefferi Chang
Coordinator SOSKK, TAG2.0