SAND RIGHTS ONLY TO SEDCO?

EXTRACT…..Sand extraction in a river.

THE DECISION to let Sedco to have the sole sand extraction license in Sabah starting June 1st next year as announced by the Land and Survey Director Datuk Osman Jamal. He said that the Sabah State Government has agreed to this, in principle.

Commenting on this, the KK MP, Hiew King Cheu said this might be a good proposal and this will reduce the work load of the slow moving administrative work of the Sabah Land and Survey Department.

The work efficiency of the Land and Survey Department is well known to be slow and inefficient and this has been proven by the few hundred thousands of backlog cases in land transfer, land application, in the title extension, and not forgetting the issuance of strata-titles to high rise apartments.

The sole sand extraction rights being given to the Sedco is in no way that they can do what they like, but in fact Sedco must be seen even more accountable, responsible and transparent to the people of Sabah.

The problems with the sand thefts and illegal dredging all over Sabah was not handled well by the Land and Survey Department before and it is a must that under the new management this will be put under strict control and with no abuse and corrupt practice. The past had indicated that there are illegal sand dredging all over Sabah which are destroying the rivers and land, and had caused flooding.

This illegal dredging until today are still in operation and the department had not taken any action even thought police reports have been made many times. This is a typical example that these people are working with the one-‘eye closed attitude’ of the department.

MP Hiew said that if the PR Selangor government can reduce the sand stealing operation to a minimum, put it under control, and is making money from the sand dredging to provide free water for the people in Selangor, why can’t the Sabah government cannot do that?

Where is the sand dredging money in our rivers gone to and how much had been collected over the years? Sedco must produce result in generating money for the people in Sabah and there must be a clean and true set of account for the people. The Audit General must come to check on this in the future.

The KK MP Hiew said that the site location for the sand extraction in our rivers and land must be identified and drawn out carefully, and approved by the DOE, before they are designated as a site for sand extraction. The sand extraction right must be tendered out openly and only be awarded to the best and highest price offered by the contractor.

The payment on the sand extracted must be done with transparency and subjected to audit. The sum of money received must be used back to the community to bring about welfare and some local development. This is the original function of the SEDCO (Sabah Economy Development Corporation) since the beginning of its formation.