32 More Islands To Become Marine Parks

REDANG ISLAND, July 29 (Bernama) -- The Marine Parks Department plans to gazette 32 more islands as marine parks to raise to 74 the number of islands so categorised to protect marine resources including corals. Its director-general, Abdul Jamal Maidin, said the department was gathering data on the islands to make the recommendation to the government as soon as possible. "So far, 42 islands in the country have been gazetted as marine parks," he told reporters after launching a coral nursery at the Redang Island Marine Park Centre here Wednesday.

The nursery was set up jointly by the Education Ministry with the collaboration of the Marine Parks Department and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. Abdul Jamal said some 800 islands in the country could be gazetted as marine parks. He also said that the department had detected 352 cases of trespassing by fishermen at marine parks between 2003 and 2009, and 34 cases from January to June this year. All these cases had been referred to the Fisheries Department for prosecution, he added.