The Straits of Johor separating Malaysia from Singapore is a toxic sink of heavy metals and foul sewage, posing a serious health hazard to people on both sides of the waterway, a newspaper reported yesterday.
The New Straits Times quoted hydrologist Low Kwai Sim, who has done water quality studies in the Johor Straits, as saying that the causeway, built in 1924, has blocked pollutants from discharging into the sea.
This has resulted in heavy pollution in the water bodies flanking the causeway, and turned the waterway into a "giant toxic sink," Low was quoted as saying.
She said the only way to release the pollutants was to break the causeway. Low, a Malaysian, could not be immediately reached to confirm the comments.
There was no immediate reaction from the Singapore or Malaysian governments. Breaking the causeway would suit Malaysia, which wants to build a new bridge between the two countries -- a move opposed by the Singapore government, which questions the project's economic viability.
"There will be health hazards such as skin irritation and other ailments, including hair loss, if we sit back and do nothing to improve the water quality," Low was quoted as saying.
She said the pollutants were flowing into the causeway from three Malaysian rivers and from Singapore's Kranji sewage plant, adding that five culverts under the causeway on the Malaysian side have been completely blocked and sealed by sediments over the years.
"The only way out now is to demolish the causeway and release the water," she said. "This will lead to oxygenation of the water, which is good for marine life."
In one of the many irritants in relations between the two nations, Malaysia has proposed replacing the 1km causeway with the new bridge, and says it will start work on a bridge halfway to Singapore -- even though the city-state hasn't yet agreed to build the other half.
More than 100,000 people cross the causeway each day, and Malaysian officials have said a new bridge would ease congestion and boost the flow of traffic.
The project had been part of an earlier deal that included contentious talks on Malaysia's supply of water to Singapore and other mat-ters, but negotiations stopped in 2002 without a resolution.
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