So kesian

Now (4 oct)

Although I've heard about this incident a few weeks ago, I just wanna post sth about it here. This place has always been very special to me since the first time I visited it.

Dead fish at Friendship Park

A city council spokesman says fish could have been choked by oil from food public give fish

KUCHING: A coach-load of visitors from Kuala Lumpur brought by a local tourist guide was horrified to see hundreds or probably thousands of dead fish floating at the pond in the scenic Friendship Park here yesterday.

Then Kim Hin said they were looking forward to feeding the fish at the park but what greeted them instead was shock and disappointment.

“I normally will bring tourists to the park and let them buy fish feed from a counter at the tea house to feed the fish in the pond,” he told See Hua Daily News, Borneo Post’s sister paper when met at the park yesterday.

He said both locals and visitors loved to feed the fish as the feeding frenzy was a sight to behold; fish splashing around to get the most bite.

“It’s unfortunate that they have died,” he lamented.

A Kuching City South Council (MBKS) spokesman said the pond was not designed for fish and therefore, never released any fish into it.

“It’s the public who released the fish into the pond and feed them. Our security staff even said some people bring along sacks of bread and buns, probably from a local bakery,” he said when contacted for comments.

He said while the intention was good, oil from the bread and buns like butter and coconut buns would probably cause the water to turn oily and murky.

Overtime, he said the fish population, comprising tilapia, ‘kaloi’ and Japanese carp, multiplied to such an extent that they caused the water to become murkier and the water pump to malfunction.

“We have to service the water pump regularly and in the process, would normally drain the water from seven to three or four feet deep. On Tuesday, we noticed one or two dead fish but when we returned the next day the fish were all dead,” he said.

He suspected that the fish could not withstand the murky water and therefore died due to suffocation during the night when the water was drained to the three or four-foot level for maintenance work.

“It’s a pity that the fish have died but we’re not experts in fish breeding and do not realise that they cannot withstand the murky water. They might have also died due to lack of oxygen,” he said.

He advised the people not to release any fish into the man-made pond after this episode.

“The pond is not designed to keep fish,” he said, adding that the council had no problems with other man-made ponds in its jurisdiction before.

He said the council workers were currently picking up all the dead fish for disposal.

Others have different opinions how the incident occured:

Due to the maintenance work and the draining of the water, I would have guessed at a glance that the fish might have died from the lack of oxygen (increased Biochemical Oxygen Demand - BOD) resulting in an increase in toxicity level (the greenish colour of the water)

Then (27 Jan)

Oh well one thing's for sure, the fishies are no longer there. I just hope that new people will come and put back other fish in the pond, and everything will go back to normal (hopefully when I go back next year). Thats the way our country works anyway - always pointing fingers at others, and not examining ourselves.