Pangkor tourism will be destroyed

[fortune]

Friday December 31, 2010

Iron ore plant will destroy Pangkor tourism


THE proposal by Brazilian company Vale to build an iron ore plant in the Teluk Rubiah holiday resort area of Manjung has left me confused.
Since when was it possible to re-classify resort land as potential industrial land?

They are normally two separate classes of land, used for different purposes.

The fishing village in Lumut is where tourists get the boat to Pangkor island.

Pangkor island and its surroundings are well known resort areas, among Malaysians and international tourists.

Will anyone want to swim or dive in potentially contaminated waters or eat the fish from them?

Industrial areas, by common sense, are kept far from vacation spots.
If there is any damage to the environment the impact on its flora and fauna may be irreversible, and far reaching.

The environment around Pangkor island is already under threat.
NGO Reef Check Malaysia and Pangkor Laut Resort are working together for the coral reef rehabilitation programme in Pulau Giam, where the coral reefs are heavily damaged.

Most of the damage to the coral reef came from sand and construction barges coming in from Lumut and Pulau Pangkor on the mainland of Perak.
This added with the pollution seriously threatens the quality of the seawater and the fragile marine ecosystem.

People are already working to overcome the existing damage, what more we build a large scale metal processing plant in such close proximity?
One of the growth drivers under the Economic Transformation Plan is to conserve the environment in order to promote eco-tourism, so why are we putting in danger one of our star holiday resorts?

I urge the Perak state government to reconsider the Vale plant.
For the people of Perak, Pangkor Island and its surrounding area is a convenient local vacation spot so we do not need to travel out of state to enjoy a holiday.

Please think about the implications of the plant on the environment and on the people.
SIMON HENG,
Ipoh.

[fortune]

Friday January 21, 2011

Vale project may cost up to RM14b
By TEE LIN SAY
linsay@thestar.com.my

Perak MB: It will likely start in July or August

IPOH: Brazilian mining giant Vale International SA's construction costs in its iron-ore transshipment project will be between RM9bil and RM14bil over a five-year period, and the project will likely start in July or August this year, said Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

Vale has received the necessary planning and statutory approvals. It is now in the midst of drawing up the engineering plan.

While the Perak government has no equity participation in the project, it will participate in the port and logistics operations. There will also be co-sharing with local companies on the downstream activities. The multiplier effect of the downstream activities is expected to triple Vale's initial investment.

“Vale has agreed to bring more economic growth along that area. Local companies will be subcontracted to participate in the trickle-down activities. They will include Malaysian companies involved in iron ore, steel, fabrication, shipbuilding, canning and tin,” Zambry said.


Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir … ‘Local companies will be subcontracted to participate in the trickle-down activities.’
Under the project, Vale will develop an iron-ore complex, including its own jetty in Teluk Rubiah, Lumut. Zambry said this would serve as an impetus for the development of iron ore and steel-related industries.

“This will be Vale's largest factory outside Brazil. All the necessary acquisitions have been made; it is just a matter of coming out to do it now,” he said.

He said the shipbuilding activities would take place along the beachfront from Lumut to Bagan Datok.

“Some of the local shipbuilders may build the smaller ships to transship the iron ore in the latter phase,” Zambry said.

The first of the two-phase Vale project will create jobs for 1,000 skilled workers. Over the entire two phases, Zambry said, jobs would be created for 3,000 skilled workers and a few thousand unskilled workers. The figures do not include the spinoff effects from the downstream activities.

“The Perak State Development Corp has started drawing up a value-chain roadmap based on the presence of the Vale project in Malaysia. We will identify and promote foreign and domestic direct investments using the project as a base,” Zambry said.

[hop hop]

This is the beginning of the end of Pangkor Island as we know it. HABIS!!