Prospecting for gold, nickel: CM
Published on: Thursday, May 25, 2023
By: Larry Ralon
Hajiji also said the Sabah Government would continue with more acquisitions to expand the state’s involvement in the oil and gas industry so that more revenue and participation can be achieved for Sabah
Kota Kinabalu: The State Government has issued two-year prospecting licences to several companies to search for minerals such as gold and nickel which are said to be abundant in Sabah.
“This is just the preliminary stage. We don’t know if there are minerals, where and so on. The State Government will only make a decision if the amount is economical to mine,” Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said, when winding up for the Chief Minister’s Department (CMD) at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting, Wednesday.
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To a question from Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Senallang), he said more than 30 companies, including from Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak have shown interest.
“In our efforts to find minerals in Sabah, we have an open policy. It is true that priority is given to local companies, but we are open because many of the local companies do not have experience.
“We are open to companies from Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak to participate in searching for minerals in Sabah.
“Although there may be some we give in terms of area and so on, when they make mineral discoveries in an area we will only give that area in a limited acreage.
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“We have decided in the Sabah Mineral Management Committee meeting that only 1,000 acres will be the total amount. But to begin with, we will only give mining approval for an area of 200 acres,” he said.
He said many things that must be examined in granting mining licences. So far, it’s just a prospecting licence,” he said.
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The licence to mine will be decided by the Government which first needs to get comments from all relevant departments because it involves forests, the environment and so on.
“If within two years they do not discover anything then it (prospecting licence) will cancel by itself.”
Hajiji said according to sources, there are many minerals in Sabah, including gold and nickel, but don’t know where.
Earlier, hajiji reiterated that the Sabah Maju Jaya Development Plan 1.0 (2021 - 2025) is a comprehensive development plan that is formulated and implemented in phases.
“This development plan is ours together with the slogan “Sabah Maju Jaya” taken from the motto in the state coat of arms to instil pure values among the people of Sabah, be competitive and progressive, further contributing to the development of Sabah, in line with the motto,” said Hajiji.
To a question from Assafal P Alian (Tungku) who suggested the State Government issue a report card on the SMJ Development Plan 1.0: 2021 - 2025, Hajiji said two reports had been issued, namely the Annual Report on the achievements over the two years of the SMJ Development Plan and the 2022 Initiative Achievement Report, which displays report card details with achievement scores.
“These two reports can be accessed through the Sabah Maju Jaya Secretariat portal: smj.sabah.gov.my. A book has also been published and the SMJ Secretariat will distribute it to all Assembly Members in the near future,” he said.
On the land issue raised by Datuk Abdul Ghani Mohd Yassin (Nabawan) and Sarifuddin Hata (Merotai) on Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL), Hajiji said based on the Forestry Enactment 1968, prospective entrepreneurs need to apply for a TOL to allow logging activities to be carried out on government land.
“Applications for government land can be made either individually or in groups, companies and corporate organisations or registered associations. Land applications applied by any company that has been processed in a complete and orderly manner by the Land and Surveys Department (JTU) and comply with all legal requirements, land applications can be approved by the State Government.
“However, TOLs and Forest Licences will only be issued after all the requirements and conditions of the relevant departments have been complied with such as the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or Proposal Mitigation Measures (PMM), payment of land revenue, measurement of the requested area and others.”
To Jannie Lasimbang (Kapayan) who suggested that the issuance of Native land titles be accelerated, the Chief Minister said the State Government through the JTU would always strive to increase the achievement of the issuance of Native land titles from time to time.
The State Government is confident that through the various initiatives introduced by JTU, achievements exceeding the set targets would be realised, he added.
Replying to Mohd Shafie about Yayasan Sabah’s logging concession, Hajiji said the logging concession in Tawau is still under the administration of Yayasan Sabah because the area is a forest reserve and Yayasan Sabah remains the licencee.
“After the logging is completed, Yayasan Sabah through its subsidiaries will develop the land as a joint venture for industrial tree plantations and oil palm plantations where permitted by the authorities,” he said.
On the issue raised by Datuk Darell Leiking (Moyog) and Rina Jainal (Kukusan) about the need to declare assets among public service members, Hajiji said all public officials consisting of Executive Group Officers, Management and Professional Groups and Top Management Groups are required to declare their assets every five years, while public officials holding sensitive positions have to declare every two years.
Answering a question from Dr Aliakbar Gulasan (Assembly Appointed) regarding the development of the Ummah Development Foundation, Hajiji said the Sabah Islamic Religious Council (Muis) is in the process of establishing the Ummah Development Foundation to be submitted to the authorities.
MUIS is also in the final stages of establishing a MUIS Islamic College which is related to the objective of establishing the Foundation to empower education and the welfare of the ummah, he added.
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