‘REPAIRING CULVERTS SHOULD BE PRIORITY’
Better aqueduct system can prevent Johor Strait from becoming a ‘giant toxic sink’, say activists
WHILE the benefit of building a passageway for vessels at the Causeway continues to be debated, activists in Johor are urging the government to first repair the culverts, which spanned the length of the 1.06km-long link.
They believed that placing a better aqueduct system, with the introduction of a water gate at the Causeway, could improve the environment in the Johor Strait and prevent it from becoming a “giant toxic sink”.
Tja Kim Huat, a tunnelling specialist in Singapore’s construction sector, said when the Causeway was opened in 1924, there were 10 culverts, a canal and a lift bridge to allow water and boats to pass through the eastern and western side of the Causeway.
“The canal and four culverts were damaged by the British in 1942 while trying to destroy the Causeway in an attempt to save Singapore from the Japanese invasion during World War 2.
“A report by the Crown Agents of the British Colonies in 1953 revealed that the British rebuilt the damaged structures and did away with the lift bridge, but they did not repair the culverts as it would affect the railroad and road traffic, and it cost too much.
“Another four culverts were damaged during a joint Causeway widening project in 1975 by both countries,” said Tja, a coadministrator of the Ecolinks@Causeway Facebook page, which advocates the upgrading of the culverts.
He said out of the two remaining culverts, one was damaged during a development project several years ago.
Tja urged the federal government to upgrade the culverts and build a water gate at the Causeway.
He said the water gate at the mouth of Sungai Segget, which was built in the 1960s and upgraded to a pump station in 2014, was not enough to improve the overall quality of the environment in the Johor Strait.
“The next upgrading exercise of the culverts must include a water gate. We don’t want to save only the fish, we want to save the water from pollution.
We have to get it right this time.
“A water gate at the seawall (Causeway) is our last chance to set things right. There are six water gates along the western side of the Causeway.
“Why are there so many? Why not just have one at the seawall?
“The funny thing is, there are no main water gates on the eastern side of the Causeway.”
He said the water on the eastern side of Causeway was described as “a giant toxic sink” by Malaysian hydrologist Dr Low Kwai Sim in 2006 due to the heavy metals and foul sewage that posed a serious health hazard.
“This ‘giant toxic sink’ describes the failure of the Johor Causeway aqueduct system to flush away effluents trapped by the seawall in the middle of the Johor Strait.
“This failure has caused disadvantages and discomfort to the city’s waterfront since the 1990s.”
The Special Committee on the Causeway Congestion agreed to study several recommendations brought up in its first meeting in Putrajaya on Aug 21, including opening of passageway for vessels at the Causeway.
The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, also agreed to study the recommendations to widen and lengthen the Causeway, build a roofed pedestrian walkway and expand the entrances into the entry points at the Causeway and Second Link.
Another Johorean believed it may not be possible for large ships to ply the waters near the Causeway as certain parts of the Johor Strait are too shallow.
Y.C. Wong, who works with a marine and shipping company, said the approximately 50kmlong strait separating Malaysia and Singapore had an average depth of 12m. The Causeway was located at the midway point of the strait.
Wong said depending on the type of bridge constructed, a ship might not have enough freeboard, or distance between the waterline and the uppermost point of the ship, to ply the waters.
“It will probably be impossible for a 10mtall international ocean-going ship to pass through.
“The question remains whether these ships would use the Johor Strait, which is a narrow and shallow body of water.
“The concern here is not having enough freeboard clearance.”
Wong said shipping traffic was heavy at the eastern part of the strait near Johor Port in Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Langsat, and at the west of the strait near the Port of Tanjung Pelepas.
He said since the Causeway was one of the world’s busiest Customs and Immigration crossings, efforts must be made to facilitate the movement of people.
He said it was worthwhile to consider a seamless Immigration procedure among the citizens of Southeast Asian countries, similar to what was adopted in the European Union.
Retired mechanical engineer Harold J. Angus said the electrical lift bridge built in the old structure of the Causeway might not be practical due to the large number of vehicles and people crossing the Causeway daily.
“The Causeway traffic is so heavy that if it were to be interrupted with a lift bridge, it would create havoc.
“Perhaps a water passage could be built in the area underneath the existing flyover leading towards the Sultan Iskandar Building in Bukit Chagar. But that will depend on how the conception of the overpass will be. If there is a solid foundation, the structure could be modified.
“For now, opening up the culverts to restore them is a good idea because it will solve the terrible water quality,” said Angus, who, along with Wong and Tja, is a co-administrator of the Ecolink@Causeway Facebook Group.
Malaysian Nature Society vicechairman Vincent Chow said the Johor Strait was choking due to the effects of bad planning, rapid reclamation and a lack of enforcement.
This was made worse by the blocked culverts at the Causeway, which prevented the fish stock and other marine life to be replenished.
“The Johor Strait is a nursery ground for marine life. When I was growing up in the 1950s, the waters were teeming with ikan kerapu, ikan selar kuning, ikan dengkis, ikan tamban and crabs. “But after many decades, the mangroves that used to dot the coastline were removed due to development and the water has become shallow.”
Chow said the negative side of reclamation was evident recently when thousands of dead fish were washed up on Pantai Lido near Sultanah Aminah Hospital here.
“Fish are the bio-indicators of the water. If fish are dying, then we know the ecosystem of the strait is not good.”
The federal government’s effort to upgrade the Causeway will address the perennial problem of congestion faced by about 300,000 people crossing the link daily.
But proposals, such as opening up passageway for vessels, could address the long-standing concerns about environmental degradation in the Johor Strait.
The New Straits Times had, in a two-part series starting Jan 20, highlighted the congestion motorcyclists had to endure at the Johor-Singapore border to get to work.
Most of them set out as early as 4.30am and have to endure between one and 1½ hours of traffic congestion to get through Immigration and Customs clearances.
The issues affecting the Causeway and Second Link came into focus following an apparent interest by the federal government to revive a Crooked Bridge project to replace the Malaysian side of the Causeway.