The oil spill in Pengerang waters and on its beaches as a result of a collision between two vessels last Tuesday, has not only affected the livelihood of fishermen but also business at a beach resort in the area.

Tanjung Kapal Beach Resort marketing manager, Nazaruddin Nasir, 30, said the oil spill had resulted in the cancellation of more than half of the bookings for rooms at the resort.

"We received a lot of bookings for a two-night stay beginning last Friday but most of the bookings were cancelled after news of the oil spill spread," he lamented when met at the resort, which opened for business in 2006 and has 19 guest rooms.

The resort is popular with locals and Singaporeans, as well as for schoolchildren's holiday camps.

Nazaruddin said the oil slick which reached the beach last Friday gave out a foul smell and caused throat irritation.

Meanwhile, cleaning work was seen being carried out in the Sungai Rengit area involving government agencies like the Southern Region Marine Department, and the private sector.

Its operations unit chief Zulkarnain Karim said 71 staff of the department were involved in the cleaning work from morning until 5pm, but this evening it stalled due to heavy rain and high tide.

The Department of Environment in a statement said to date, 2,680 bags of sand with oil slick and 18,911 litres of oil had been collected in the clean-up.

"The oil spill has polluted 16 kilometres of beach area, but 8.5 km have been cleaned up by 230 volunteers," it said.

The areas being cleaned up are Tanjung Pengelih-Tanjung Stapa, Tanjung Stapa-Tanjung Kapal, Tanjung Kapal-Tanjung Datuk, Tanjung Datuk-Tanjung Bulat and Teluk Ramunia-Tanjung Menyusup.

Last Tuesday, the MV Waily, registered in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, was on its way to Hong Kong when it collided with MT Bunga Kelana 3, registered in Port Klang and carrying 61,858 tonnes of crude oil, causing 2,000 tonnes of the oil to spill.

The incident happened four nautical miles south-west of Tanjung Stapa, Pengerang and 3.7 nautical miles from Singapore waters.

- Bernama