GEORGE TOWN, Nov 23 — There is still no evidence to show that the pollution at Pantai Esen in Permatang Damar Laut, Batu Maung near here is due to reclamation works for the man-made Silicon Island.

Penang Infrastructure, Transport and Digital Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said investigations including laboratory tests of samples taken in the area by relevant agencies are still underway.

"I can confirm that the reclamation works comply with the Department of Environment (DOE) guidelines including the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) that has been approved.

"Strict measures have also been taken such as the use of a double-layer silt curtains, and we need to understand that the area is indeed a naturally muddy area so the recent incident also occurred due to the increase in algae or ‘algae bloom’,” he said in a press statement today.

He said media reports regarding the statement by state Housing and Environment committee chairman Datuk Seri S. Sundarajoo was not entirely accurate, and he himself had stated that investigations including laboratory tests by relevant agencies were still ongoing.

Zairil said that as everyone is aware, algae is not an organism that results from reclamation works.

He said that he too was also still waiting for the final results of the laboratory tests to be confirmed by the technical agencies involved and he requested all parties not to make any speculation regarding the issue.

"The more important question is how this bloom in algae could have occurred? Among the possibilities identified is that there is effluent from the upstream of a nearby river flowing into the sea.

"In the surrounding area, there are also several agricultural activities and also a sewage treatment plant, at the same time, the survey results found that there was no algae stuck or growing in the silt curtain area and this indicates that the source is not from the Silicon Island reclamation project site,” he also said.

Yesterday, the media reported Sundarajoo as saying that the state government would not let up on the issue related to Pantai Esen which has been polluted with silt and mud for more than two months.

Sundarajoo was also reported to have said that the siltation issue may have occurred because waves could not reach the shoreline due to reclamation works, and perhaps the developer will build a canal or create a path to ensure that waves can reach the beach. — Bernama