Prawn aquaculture

My traveling diary brought me to the northern part of Malaysia where I happened to visit once the most controversial aqua project in Malaysia's history. The project, approved in May 1993 and involving acquisition of some 400 ha of paddy land and more than 700 landowners, may be the most controversial development project in Kedah. The project was a joint venture between the state government and an Arab company, the Ben Laden group.


The project was initially used to culture tiger prawns since it fetch a good market price. The project is considered as a mega project where the are 220 ponds available and each pond can cultured of more than 70,000 matured prawns. A matured prawn is about 10grams in weight and each kilos can fetch to about Rm40 to Rm50 ex-farm. With that, you can do the maths on the projected profits. Pakcik kayo!


However, tiger prawn is prone to catch a viral disease called "red tide disease", a disease that come in during monsoon season. And this lead to the mass failure of the project (apart from the political unrest shrouding the whole project since the beginning). When the project failed the Arabs pulled out and the project was bailed out by the federal government via MOF.


Currently, only a few of the ponds are used to breed the white prawns and they no longer sees prawn tiger can bring the big bucks to them.


I do hope the new state government can revive the project and bring back the hope to the investors and previous landowners who shed their tears when heavy machinery bulldozed their paddy fields and transformed it into ponds. There is a saying that the prawns were actually swimming in the pool of tears of Kerpan people. If the prawn breeding is a failure, then a new alternative must be sought. Perhaps, the place can be turn into a resort where people can came and spend their time to fish the prawns at the the largest prawn fishing village, who knows.

But, knowing that this property belonged to state government with federal government interest, that is still a long way to go.