Precautions before play

TOURISTS who want to ride water scooters at the Batu Ferringhi tourism belt in Penang will from now on be given a checklist to ensure that they are briefed on the safety procedures by the water sports operators.

The move, introduced with immediate effect by the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP), state government and Supratechnic (M) Sdn Bhd, is an effort to further enhance safety measures taken by the operators.

Supratechnic’s managing director Chow Kum Hoong said tourists who wished to go on the water scooters would first be briefed on safety measures before being given a checklist.

“Upon understanding the listed safety measures in handling the machine, they will then have to sign on the list as an acknowledgement,” Kum Hoong said after a workshop on ‘Basic Operating Safety Riding’ for water scooter operators at the Lone Pine Hotel in Batu Ferringhi.

Supratechnic is the sole distributor of Yamaha marine engines in the country.

The one-day workshop, organised by MPPP jointly with the Penang Water Recreation Association and the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), Penang chapter, saw some 100 operators and 40 council enforcement officers taking part.

Kum Hoong also said his company would provide the operators with laminated safety regulation sheets to be given to tourists for their own reference.

“We hope that with all these measures being taken, the number of accidents involving water sports will be reduced,” he said.

State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow who opened the workshop yesterday, said the demerit point system to ensure operators adhered to the rules set by the authorities would be enforced with immediate effect.

“There are 18 categories of offences under the system and deductions for each offence is set according to its severity,” he said, adding that an operator’s licence would be revoked once a total 50 demerit points was accumulated.

Among the violations the operators could be penalised for are operating water scooters without a licence, unauthorised modifications of the machines and allowing riders under 16 to ride without an accompanying adult.

Kon Yeow said an investigation panel which had been set up to receive and solve complaints as well as to monitor water sports activities on the beach, comprised representatives from the council, police, Civil Defence Department, hoteliers and water sports operators.

“The panel will also conduct investigations to ascertain the true cause of an accident and to determine whether it is due to the tourist’s or the operator’s negligence,” he said.

Source: HAFIZ MARZUKHI
hafiz@thestar.com.my