Baywatch tower in Batu Ferringhi losing ground

As the northeast monsoon brings with it stronger winds and crashing waves to beaches here, the sight of erosion at the foundation of a baywatch tower in Batu Ferringhi here is worrying.

A massage parlour owner, Tommy Foo, 46, who has operated here for over 20 years, said beach-goers and locals alike were concerned about the stability of the tower’s foundation.

“Around this time each year, we usually see a higher tide along the beach. The waves hit closer and closer. But since September, the waves have come right behind my stall.

“It is worrying as I am stationed along the coast and the tower is right beside the shop,” he said when met here yesterday.

Foo said in the last 20 years, he has never seen the waves hit this close to his stall.

“Even when it is high tide, there is usually some space in between where the waves hit the shore and the base of where my stall sits.

“When the tide is low, there is a 100m distance or so in between and people can even play soccer along the beachfront.

“Now you cannot even walk across the sand here,” he added.

Foo said he paid hundreds of ringgit to get sandbags and tyres to cushion the foot of his stall.

Another local, a painting seller who declined to be named, said the erosion at the beach got from bad to worse over the decades.

“I have been in the area since the 1990s and the beach used to be spacious and it stretches up to Tanjung Bungah. You can walk along the beach when it is low tide.

“Now, regardless of the tide, you can go nowhere as the waves hit right up to the foot of the foundation.”

The stretch of beach where the baywatch tower is located belongs to the Civil Defence Force (APM).

Its deputy director Lt-kol (PA) Zairil Anuar Zulmuji said due to continuous hits by the waves, the tower is unstable and currently not in use.

“We classified the tower as unstable as more than half of its base has eroded. So for the time being, the tower is not in use and our members are stationed at the other towers temporarily until we fix the pillar base.”

He said APM has four baywatch towers in Batu Ferringhi.

“For now, our members will be stationed at three other towers in Batu Ferringhi.”