Tanah Merah Zone, Tanah Merah Site 7 (TM, TM7)
Last recce conducted by Joleen Chan and Olivia Lee
on 22 June 2019 from 9.30am - 12.45pm, during tide level of 0.6 - 1.9 metres
Location
Tanah Merah Site 7 is located on the east of Singapore next to the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.
“Along the coastline of Tanah Merah, stretching from the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to the Changi Naval Base, are sandy beaches, mudflats, rocky seawalls and breakwater. Although the shores have been reclaimed, this stretch of coast still supports a diversity of marine life.”
Cited from: http://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/dna/places/details/66
Figure 1. Location of TM7 in relation to Singapore’s mainland.
Accessibility of the site
- To assess the beach, permission needs to be granted from the Singapore Police Force, Singapore Land Authority and Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal as the site is a state land.
- The site can be accessed through a locked gate which is located at the side of Tanah Merah ferry Terminal carpark D. Please approach the Duty Manager at the Information Office inside the ferry terminal to request for access to the beach. Please note that only the Police Officer of Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal can unlock the gate for you to enter/exit the beach as we are not allowed to hold onto the key. Please obtain his/her phone number in order to notify him/her when you need to exit the beach during the cleanup.
- As everyone is locked in during the duration of the beach cleanup, please let your participants know that and remind them to use the washroom before the event starts.
Figure 2. Instructions on how to find the Information Office
Figure 3. Gate is to the beach at the far right of Carpark D signage.
Figure 4. Meeting point - Departure side of Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.
Site description
Figure 5. Map of TM7, showing the ferry terminal, and displaying the locations of the different bays
Figure 6. Participants are to alight at the area marked ‘X’ in Carpark D in map above. The same corner is also where trash bags should be placed neatly for NEA contractors to collect.
- Nearest toilets and shelter (in the event of bad weather) will be at Tanah Merry Ferry Terminal.
- TM7 is a long stretch of beach located behind a stretch of seawall. The beach comprises 5 bays, which are distinguished by a slight separation by breakwaters. Bay 1 is the first bay located nearest to the ferry terminal, and Bay 5 is located at the end of the site, near a green worker’s dormitory.
Figures 7 and 8. View of TM7.
- The cleanup site is approximately 870m long.
- At tides >2m, it is not advisable to conduct the cleanup from the second bay onwards as the subsequent bays will be submerged below sea water and thus inaccessible.
- The site can hold 750 participants in total, taking into consideration data collectors and weighing I/Cs, etc.
- The site is not suitable for young children and elderly as participants are locked in (no easy access to washroom) and have to walk down a slope of sea wall to get to the beach and (see figure 9).
Figure 9. Sea wall that participants will walk down from to reach the beach below.
Trash
- Trash load: Medium to high.
- Consisting of trash such as disposable plastic bottles, plastic beverage cups, straws as well as industrial trash (fishing nets, oil containers, jerry cans).
- Examples of different types of trash can be seen below.
Figure 10. Pieces of styrofoam among organic debris. It is important to remove these small pieces of plastic as they continue to break down into smaller pieces. |
Figure 11. Much trash accumulates near the start of the site. |
Figure 12. Cutters will be needed to removed entangled trash items. |
Figure 13. Buried jerry can. |
Figure 14. Ropes and fishing lines can get tangled with tree roots so cutters are needed to remove such trash (2015). |
Figure 15. Seen in 2015. |
Figure 16. Plastic bottles, beverage cups, slipper and many other debris type (2019). |
Figure 17. Trash load was lower than usual when the site was recce-ed in April 2016, but trash load tends to be higher in June - Sep. |
Figure 18. Large trash such as this barricade are found on the beach (2015). It is alright to leave such heavy/buried items on the beach as they are unlikely to enter the sea again. Effort should be spent removing items that can be remobilised by tide. |
Figure 19. Some trash are concentrated more inland (2016). |
Figure 20. Be careful of wooden planks with protruding nails. |
Figure 21. High trash load at some parts of the beach (2015). |
Figure 22. Many straws and plastic cups were seen (2015). |
Figure 23. More than 230 straws were gathered within a distance of 3 metres during a recce (2015). |
Figure 24. Styrofoam beads from break up of larger styrofoam items. These can be removed using household sieves or baskets with small holes. |
Figure 25. Much debris accumulate at the backshore near the vegetation. |
Participants should be reminded not to pick up or take any organic materials such as sea shells and living organisms as they are natural components of the environment. Please also refrain from disturbing any wildlife seen on the beach. Below are a few of the common inhabitants of TM7. |
Figure 26. A tiny sand bubbler crab about 1 to 1.5cm spotted on the beach. These little crustaceans are common at TM7 (2015). |
Figure 27. Thousands of creeper snails (Batillaria zonalis) can be seen at low tide among the trash (2015). |
Figure 28. A variety of button snails (Umbonium vestiarium) (2015). Participants should not take any shells or other organic debris with them. |
Figure 29. Carpet anemone seen during low tides (2015). Do not touch these as they sting. |
Figure 30. The accumulated trash at the high shoreline
Logistics and Manpower
- Cutters will be needed to cut and remove ropes and fishing nets that are entangled.
- Wheelbarrows would come in handy when transporting trash bags out from TM7 to trash collection point at the carpark, especially if there are bulky and heavy items.
- Gloves, clipboards and ICCS data cards, tongs, spring balances to weigh trash.
- For more guidelines, please refer to the ICCS Organiser’s page: http://coastalcleanup.nus.edu.sg/organiserspage.html
- First aid kit is necessary.
- The site can take approximately 750 people.
- A human chain will be needed to transport trash up the seawall into the trash collection point (TCP).
Figure 31. Forming a human chain will ease the transporting trash bags up the seawall. Participants should always wear gloves when handling trash bags to protect themselves from cuts.
Safety
- Good gloves and covered shoes or booties required as there may be broken ceramics or glass.
- Participants can apply repellent as there can be mosquitoes and sandflies present, but a better alternative would be to wear long-sleeved clothing.
- Participants are advised not to open any bottles or drums found as it is not known if they contain harmful liquids or not. Instead, discard the whole container as it is.
- Participants should always avoid overloading the trash bags (fill only three-quarters full) and leave enough space for the trash bags to be tied securely to allow easier handling of trash bags and to prevent tearing.
- Glass pieces could be collected in plastic bottles found at the beach to avoid tearing of trash bags and ensure trash bags are safe for participants and cleaners to handle.
- Volunteers must be wearing gloves at all times when handling trash.
- Beware of snakes hidden among the vegetation, do not go more than 2m into the vegetation.
- Be careful of stone fishes in the waters or near sea walls.
- Volunteers need to practice caution when picking up trash under roots or thorny vegetation.
- Precaution to be taken with regards to hazardous objects, such as wooden planks with nails embedded.
- Volunteers need to watch out for deadfalls from overhead trees during windy weather
Figure 30. Directions from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to Changi General Hospital (CGH) - Drive along Tanah Merah Coast Road, then turn into Changi Coast Road. Turn into Xilin Ave. Drive along Xilin Ave and Simei Ave until you reach CGH.
- The nearest hospital in the case of an emergency would be Changi General Hospital.
- In case of serious injuries in need of emergency attention, call the ferry terminal police to open the gate to beach and phone the ambulance and direct them to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal Carpark D (50 Tanah Merah Ferry Road, Singapore 498833). Send a representative down to the carpark to flag them down and direct them to the site of the casualty.
- Weather service information in case of the need to check for lightning: 6282 6821