The public and environmentalists have raised their concerns about the development of petrochemical and maritime industries at the Tanjung Bin, along Sungai Pulai Estuary in Pontian, Johor.

A preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment report was submitted by the project's proponent Seaport Worldwide Sdn Bhd. The assessment was carried out by Hijau Sekitar Sdn Bhd.

I regret to say that some misleading, erroneous and inaccurate information has been found in the Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment report. In this respect, the Department of Environment should direct Seaport Worldwide to submit a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) report.

According to the preliminary EIA report, activities within the project site such as oil storage, ship building and repairing, grit blasting and heavy metal fabrication will be done at a wetlands area, which is adjacent to a Ramsar site. This development will impact enormously on the wetlands and affect the livelihood of the fishermen nearby.

(The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.)

There will be a broad-scale clearing of 2,255 acres of mangrove forest which can be approximated to 913 soccer fields - this will disappear permanently from the global map.

We found that some conclusions in the preliminary EIA report have been merely assumed. For instance, the report states that 'it is expected that the seagrass beds will regenerate themselves' after the rivers are dredged.

In fact, the seagrass beds found at the river bank of Sungai Pulai are the most extensive seagrass beds in the country. There are at least 10 types of seagrass growing there which also serve as homes to various types of marine life on which local fishermen rely on.

The formation of seagrass beds take a long time. A bed requires specific conditions of water depth, water quality, sunlight, nutrients and much more. Who can ensure that after such heavy polluted industries, the seagrass beds will still be preserved?

Another serious error in the EIA report was the lack of consultation in its assessment. The seahorse species which are found in Sungai Pulai is of the Hippocampus Kuda variety and not the Hippocampus Denise. The latter are the smallest seahorses in the world which can only be found in deep water coral reefs.

Additionally, the report did not mention marine life such as the pipefish and dugongs which are listed in the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and which will be threatened by the development.

The preliminary EIA report also claims that there is a 500m buffer zone between the industrial site and the Ramsar site. It is doubted that with such a short distance between the industrial site and the wetlands area, how can the authorities ensure that the heavy industries will not destroy the Ramsar site?

Currently, there are five Ramsar sites in Malaysia. According to Ramsar convention, should there be any drastic changes in the ecological character of our lands as a result of industrial development, pollution or other human interference, Malaysia will be listed on the Montreux Record which indicates that we have failed in preserving our wetland heritage. This will certainly tarnish the image of our country.

Clearly, the Tanjung Bin preliminary EIA report is too simplistic and lacks professionalism. The Department of Environment should direct the developers to submit a detailed EIA report which should outline the full affect of development in the area.

Also allow the general public to have a say in the matter, as in the long run, it is the people's children who will inherit these lands. And who is to say that they will want perished wetlands?

The writer is environmental officer to the DAP secretary-general.