Strait of Malacca shows signs of strain

THERE is much history surrounding the Strait of Malacca. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Strait bore witness to conquest after conquest of the Malacca Sultanate by marauding colonial powers. Firstly it was the Dutch, followed by the Portuguese and later the British. The Japanese also had a taste of Malacca much later on.

We see the remnants left by those powers now. Some have become tourist attractions, earning the state of Malacca lucrative tourism receipts. This goes to show that history does sell when the time is right. And Malacca, being the most conquered of the many states in Malaysia, is now benefiting from the conflicts of the past!

Even now, the Strait of Malacca performs an important function as a strategic sea channel between the Far East and the West. Each day, many ships ply the route bringing goods from the West destined for the East, especially the Chinese market, and vice versa. It is the most economical route.

In fact, it is also no secret that the Malacca Strait is key to the survival of several thriving sea ports. The Port of Singapore ( pic), for example, would face dire consequences if the Strait is no longer navigable the way it is now. So would the many ports dotting the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia such as Port Klang.

At one time, somebody mooted the idea of cutting a canal through the Isthmus of Kra in southern Thailand much like the Panama and Suez canals. That would not only cut the travel time significantly between East and West, but would also deal a blow to the logistics business now enjoyed by Singapore and the other ports. In this age of climate change and global warming, that would also have cut greenhouse gas emissions significantly.

However, that idea failed to materialise because it was considered too costly. But with improvements in technology, there is no stopping that idea from surfacing again. For now, the affected ports can count themselves lucky at being spared from a possible shutdown, and ships will continue plying the Malacca Strait and the ports will continue to enjoy doing business.

Tourism in Malacca and the thriving business of the ports are not the only ones which have benefited from the Strait of Malacca. Fishing communities living along the length of the Strait have also gained although, over the years, there has been an observed decline in the availability of such marine resources. Some blame it on overfishing but another theory links the decline to growing environmental pollution, including the destruction of natural breeding grounds such as the thick mangroves which cover some parts of the shores along the Strait.

The Indonesian side of the Malacca Strait has also equally benefited from it. But now there is concern that the Strait may not function as it used to much longer if some issues related to its wellbeing are not addressed soon.

The sustainability of the Strait is now under question.

Environmental pollution is viewed by many as the number one concern. It is still not clear to what extent the damage from environmental neglect is. If the decline in the population of fish and other marine resources is used as an indicator, we can say the environmental damage has reached very precarious levels. The pollution has even reached the beaches of Port Dickson and others along the Strait.

Another major concern is the shallowing of the Strait due to sediment pollution. This also needs careful study to understand the contributing factors. Lately, there has also been active land reclamation in some parts of the Strait. How this affects the sustainability of the Strait should also be further researched.

What has become obvious is that many stakeholders have an interest in sustaining the functioning of the Strait. There is much at stake. It is therefore time for those big logistic businesses which have profited from the Strait to now contribute to a common fund to finance the necessary R&D on it.

With better understanding, suitable measures can be put in place to assure the longterm sustainability of the highlyprized Strait of Malacca.