We went to Setiu a couple of days ago to discuss with the head master of SK Mangkok regarding our up-coming 3rd Terrapin Independence Day. As usual, we fixed a date and we discussed the program for the day.
Terrapin Independence Day (TID) is a day when we release the river terrapins that we head-start on campus. The first TID was held on 31st August 2005 @ SK Mangkok, Setiu. More than 300 people attended the opening and release ceremony, including the teachers and students of SK Mangkok, local villagers and three bus loads of Buddhists from Selangor and Terengganu.
The second TID was held on 9 September 2006 @ SK Penarik, the other school which is a stone’s throw away from SK Mangkok. And this year, the third TID will be held on 8 September 2007 @ SK Mangkok once again — the release is held alternately in each school to avoid unnecessary conflicts between both schools.
But the meeting wasn’t so much the highlight of the day. In fact, the sand-mining operations which had recently begun on the very beach that the river terrapins were released for two consecutive years was. Apparently, the sand was mined to deepen the river so that bigger boats could use the river.
The villagers were not happy with the sand-mining operations because it would cause houses built near sand banks to collapse. Moreover, such big-scale sand-mining operations would affect the major terrapin nesting beach and the river terrapins would not return to lay eggs.
Prof Chan Eng Heng, who heads the Turtle Research and Rehabilitation Group in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, was also upset to hear of the sand mining operations.
She said river terrapins would never return to nest in the area if the banks were destroyed.
“If this continues, the river terrapin population will be greatly affected, and they will become extinct in less than 10 years,” added Prof Chan, who has been running a river terrapin recovery programme for Sungai Setiu since 2004.
- Source: Terrapins facing danger, The Star, 24 August 2007
So the press were alerted to highlight the issue in the papers in a bid to stop the authorities from damaging the nesting beach and further push the terrapins to the brink of extinction.
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Good piece of journalism here. I wonder how the future of terrapins and others will be if there are no people like you to alert us of the possible threats to them.
if the commercial aspect, they will steam roll over any environmental issues. the EIA dept are easily convinved. moreover, who pays their salaries.