Keningau sand dredging permit freeze
Published on: Friday, July 13, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: All river sand dredging licences in Keningau will not be renewed until further notice from the State Government, said State Lands and Survey Department Deputy Director Sernam Singh.He said such decision was made in response to an instruction from Agriculture and Food industry Minister Junz Wong to freeze all river sand dredging activities in the district.Based on the department's record, he said the Keningau Land Office had issued two river sand dredging licences, legally known as Schedule B for this year. ADVERTISEMENT However, both licences were valid for six months and expired on June 30 which were issued in the area inspected. During the inspection, he said there were no sand dredging activities being carried out.Sernam said the department took an immediate action in response to the complaint published in the paper, on Wednesday."Actually we have been monitoring the rivers in Keningau every alternate day after Junz issued a directive to temporarily stop sand mining pending further study by the relevant authority. ADVERTISEMENT "Therefore, the department has deployed an enforcement team to locate the complainants and did a joint inspection. We managed to locate them."Our enforcement teams and staff from Keningau Land Office will continue to monitor the area concerned so that no activities are carried out," he said.
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On Wednesday, the paper reported that four villages in Sook have lodged a complaint with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in Putrajaya over the dredging of sandstone at Pegalan River by two companies in Kg Kesugui, here.Chairman of the Action Committee on behalf of padi field owners from four villages, Rais Justih said they staged a peaceful protest about two quarry companies cooperating on dredging of sandstone at the banks of Pegalan river near Kg Kesugui and until now, the companies are still active in carrying out their works.Rais said they objected to the sandstone dredging activities as it would bring enormous threats to their padi fields.Sernam said due to manpower constraint, the department is unable to station staff to monitor the sites on daily basis as they have to mobilise the teams to other districts as well.Therefore, he said the department is seeking cooperation from stakeholders to also deploy their enforcement teams to Keningau so that surveillance work can be done more frequently and effectively."We will not hesitate to take action against those illegal river sand dredging operators if they violate any of the provisions under the Sabah Land Ordinance," Sernam said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Earlier this month, it was reported that Junz called for total ban on sand mining and dredging activities in Keningau.He was reported as saying that whether they (river sand dredging operators) possess Temporary of Lease (TOL) or Schedule B licences issued by Assistant Collector of Land Revenue (ACLR) officer, all works must stop immediately. - Hayati Dzulkifli