Cooperation sought to curb sand dredging
New Straits Times 5 Aug 09;
ILLEGAL sand dredging continues in parts of Sabah because of a lack of enforcement and cooperation from the general public.
Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Department Datuk Nasir Sakaran said: "We need the people to report these activities to the Drainage and Irrigation Department and the police."
Nasir was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Abdul Rahim Ismail (BN-Pantai Manis) during question time.
Nasir said he did not know how many illegal sand dredgers had been fined, nor how much they had to pay.
He said sand dredging puts riverine communities at risk because it could cause erosion, flooding and other environmental damage.
Earlier, he had told the house that the state government was strengthening enforcement through the Land and Survey Department to prevent illegal sand dredging.
"We are training the staff in the regulations and legal enforcement. Village heads, community leaders and members of the public are also being taught their role in helping us to solve this problem," he said in reply to a question by Datuk Arifin Mohd Arif (BN-Membakut).
On Aug 12, the Land and Survey Department will propose to the resources technical committee to seek areas along the state's rivers suitable for sand extraction so that it can be legalised.
Designated zones for sand dredging in Sabah
The Star 5 Aug 09;
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will set up specific zones along rivers for sand dredging in efforts to overcome illegal and haphazard dredging activities, said Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datuk Nasir Tun Sakaran.
The Land and Survey Department will be proposing specific areas along rivers for the purpose of sand mining.
“Any application for temporary occupation lease for sand mining will only be permitted at the designated areas,” he told the state assembly yesterday.
Nasir said a special committee was expected to meet on Aug 12 to decide on the areas to be zoned.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, in responding to problems of river pollution, urged the public not to treat rivers as rubbish dumps.
He called on elected assemblymen to educate the public to love the rivers, citing the rubbish strewn in Sungai Petagas here as an example of the lack of civic consciousness.
Asked about dead fish appearing in Sungai Segaliud, where a new water intake point was scheduled to be commissioned soon, Masidi said the cause was not necessarily due to pollution from oil palm mills.
“We have to investigate to determine what caused the death,” he added.
