KOTA KINABALU: The Sembulan
River is so polluted that buaya pun tidak boleh hidup (even the crocodile
cannot survive), Culture, Tourism and Environment Datuk Masidi Manjun said it
in jest in September last year at the packed National Seminar on "Impact
Study of Palm Oil Mills, Oil Palm Plantations and Other Pollutants on the
Quality of Selected Rivers in Sabah", at Sutera Magellan.
The joke gave everybody a
big laugh!
Well, it looks like Masidi
may have to withdraw that statement, following the sighting of a 5-7 feet long
crocodile sunning on the bank just below the Sabah Museum Complex last weekend!
A Telekom Malaysia staff
spotted the surprise of his life while driving past the area at 6.20am and the
news spread like wild fire, but the reptile had disappeared without trace as
curious onlookers turned up in the hope of catching a glimpse.
A security man who saw it
captured a handphone shot of the crocodile sunning near a flight of steps
leading down to the river, which suggests that it might have been lying in wait
below the steps for a potential prey.
Unconfirmed reports indicate
several such sightings over recent days, which suggest the crocodile has been
lurking in the river for some time.
Masidi said he remembered
the Sembulan River teemed with fish during his boarding school days but
pollution had killed that off, to drum home the need for Sabah's palm oil mills
and plantation industry to clean up its act.
So, in a foul river devoid
of fish, what is the crocodile in the Sembulan River for?
Well, more than just plastic
bottles and every kind of garbage imaginable, urban residents have been seen
throwing dead cats, dead dogs, dead chicken into the river.
What a feast for a reptile
that enjoys rotting animals!
One fine day, it may even
make away with a City Hall garage collector who must regularly get down to
collect the tons of flotsam for disposal! (DE)
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