Kota Kinabalu: The Environment Protection Department (EPD) has confirmed the worst fears of Kampung Manggis residents that parts of the riverbank there has severely eroded and is in danger of collapsing.The confirmation came in the wake of several Express Hotline complaints of sand dredging operations taking place in that part of Papar. The villagers had previously complained that the dredging operations were going on until late evening and even on Sunday and public holidays. They have also pointed out that the companies involved had stationed the dredge a distance from the river to comply with the regulation.
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"But one thing that we've noticed is that it used long suction pumps that stretched right to the riverbank," said SAM, one of the land owners in that village. He said the folks, are planning to take legal action against the relevant departments for allowing unsupervised dredging in that village.
"I heard they are exploring their legal options on whether to sue the operator as a lesson for other operators to honour the conditions stated in their license."We worried that the remaining soil at the river bank will erode further if the activity to extract sand from the river bed continues further. As it is the river bank closer to my land had collapsed badly before," he added.
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In 2012, 79 people had been arrested and compounded in Sabah for involvement in illegal sand, stone and earth extraction activities since 2005, involving total accumulated compounds of RM2.32 million – the biggest in the country.Besides the arrests, the SLSD also seized 70 vehicles like excavators, lorries, boats, barges, scows and sand pumps used in the illegal activities.
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A EPD spokesman said they had conducted an inspection in that area a few days before the Raya celebration after receiving a report from Daily Express and discovered that the dredging operator namely Sierra had flouted the terms and conditions in its license.
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"We are recommending that the licence of this operator should not be renewed and report will be submitted to the Land and Survey Department's Director," he added. He also said the uncontrolled dredging operations had changed the course of the river.
