Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Yew Tung Seang said the council had held an inquiry with the beach sports operator over the incident this morning, and decided to suspend it until the police were able to ascertain there were no criminal elements involved.
The boy, Jordan Phang Wen Jie from Kelana Jaya, Selangor, died after the jet ski he was riding pillion on crashed into his mother’s jet ski. Police said eyewitnesses claimed the machines had crashed due to strong waves.
Phang was riding the jet ski with a water sports instructor at the time of the incident. A post-mortem later revealed that Phang had suffered injuries to the brain and spinal cord.
Yew said fatal jet ski accidents were rare, while water sports accidents had been reduced significantly following stricter enforcement of the law on operators since 2016.
At a press conference at Komtar today, he said it was still too early to determine how the accident had occurred. He added however that police were investigating the matter.
According to statistics released by the council, there were five jet ski-related accidents last year and one parasailing-related accident to date this year.
Earlier statistics showed there were 13 beach sport-related accidents in the first nine months of 2016. In 2015, there were 20 such incidents.
A city council spokesperson said there were 23 water sports operators in Batu Ferringhi at eight different designated zones for different activities, such as parasailing and jet skiing.
Beach activities at Batu Ferringhi have been largely criticised for the lack of safety measures with many parasailers landing on trees, breaking limbs and bruising themselves during landing or being flung sideways due to choppy winds.
The city council has banned parasailing at the beachside and ordered that parasailers only take off at sea, using winch-boats.
Beach sports operators however claim they follow safety guidelines and blame customers for ignoring safety briefings.
An operator was also reported as saying that many overweight people insisted on using the parasail despite weight restrictions and the inherent dangers.
Poor weather has also been blamed for some accidents.