TELUK BAHANG, PULAU PINANG, 7 January 2022 –The Penang National Park (Taman Negara Pulau Pinang) jetty, located in Teluk Bahang, serves as an important starting point for commuters and tourists to go to Pantai Kerachut, Muka Head and the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS).

With the safety of CEMACS staff and the public in mind, the 60-year-old wooden jetty which had collapsed in December 2021 after its pillars were battered by strong waves, installation and repair works have been started by a local contractor for temporary use.

According to the Director of CEMACS, Professor Dato’ Dr. Aileen Tan Shau Hwai via an email interview, at present two sections of the jetty are being repaired. One is the Taman Negara jetty that had been closed due to its weak platform, and the other, the wooden jetty that collapsed on 4 December 2021 due to a big storm. Current repair efforts involve replacing the old wooden platform and strengthening the structure of the jetty.

Aileen Tan said that, repair on the Taman Negara jetty started first on 27 December 2021 with the ‘gotong-royong’ concept between CEMACS, the tourist boat teams and staff from Taman Negara with funds provided by USM and the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC), Dato’ Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik for the purchase of materials such as wood, planks and other related tools, and this part of the jetty was completed within a day.

“The repair work on the second part of the jetty was initiated on 1 January 2022 and additional materials were required to repair the wooden jetty and funds were again provided by USM and Muhammad Bakhtiar and is expected to be completed by 9 January 2022,” she said.

She added that a number of CEMACS staff was involved in doing the jetty repair work and the team was led by its Senior Technician, Rosly Bassarudin.

Aileen Tan also stressed on the numbers of request that CEMACS has been receiving from both in USM and from other universities as well as the public to conduct their programmes at CEMACS, and the timetable for weekends are almost fully booked from January till March 2022.

“USM is very concerned about the welfare and safety of the staff and students since the jetty is an important structure for both tourists and visitors to come to CEMACS.

“In addition, it is utilised by the USM staff who work in CEMACS and the jetty in Teluk Bahang is the main gateway to CEMACS via boats. When the wooden jetty was destroyed by the storm, CEMACS staff and students have to hike in to work on a daily basis as the boats can only be used from the shore during high tides,” she added.

When asked if there is a plan to build a new jetty soon, Aileen Tan further explained that MOTAC together with Jabatan Perhilitan Malaysia have started the process of readying a new jetty for the past two years, and it is now undergoing the process of tender and most probably will take some time before the new jetty is ready.

“I wish to take this opportunity to thank our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr. Faisal Rafiq Mahamd Adikan for his support and understanding, whereby funds have been provided to enable the repair of the jetties to be done almost immediately,” she said.

The jetty is known as an important route used by the public to go on boats and usually, those who use the route are CEMACS staff and visitors comprising of university academics and students.

CEMACS is located within the area of Penang National Park (Taman Negara Pulau Pinang), which is known to be the smallest national park in the country that is rich in biodiversity and surrounded by flora and fauna facing the sea.

The centre serves as an institutional mechanism for mobilising and integrating the university’s considerable expertise and resources in the field of marine research. Research and training activities conducted at the centre focus on biodiversity and conservation of marine ecosystems, coastal forest ecosystems, mariculture and marine mammal ecology.

The centre has collaborated on research and conservation projects with partners from all over the world, including the UK, USA, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Canada, China, Denmark and Australia among others.

Text: Nur Farrah Ezlin Mohd Suhaimi/Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin/Photo: Courtesy of CEMACS USM