KOTA KINABALU, Aug 6 — No mining permits will be granted in biodiverse Maliau Basin as long as Sabah is under the Warisan government, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said today.
The Senallang assemblyman sought to allay the concerns of conservationists and environmental groups who feared that the sensitive area in south western district of Kalabakan and Tawau would be plundered in order to obtain coal for energy purposes.
“I guarantee that we will not mine for coal. The government will not approve any mining in the heritage site,” Shafie said during Question Time at the state assembly today.
“I promise, under my leadership, we will not approve any mining in Maliau Basin,” he reiterated when Kiulu assemblyman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai asked for a guarantee.
Shafie said that there was a demand for coal industries in Singapore and peninsular Malaysia and if needed, the state could opt to import coal from Indonesian Kalimantan, which is a cheaper alternative.
“But we are not looking at that. We are looking at other sources like gas and LNG,” he said, referring to liquid natural gas.
On a separate matter, Shafie said that the government would review the gold mining licence awarded to a private company under the previous Barisan Nasional administration.
He said there are several conditions that were not fulfilled concerning the use of cyanide as well as the involvement of the state government.
“We need the state government to be involved. Currently we are not, not any GLC or departments,” he said.
He also said any future licences issued to gold mining companies would be in cooperation with government bodies or agencies and not a fully private venture.
The state has recorded an RM3.2 million in royalty from gold mining, of which he said only RM1.3 million has been paid.
“Their revenue is RM65 million since they obtained the licence to mine, and we have imposed a 5 per cent royalty. Other states impose a 10 per cent, 30 per cent royalty. Why didn’t our state do that too? It is within our authority so that’s why we will review it now,” he said, adding that this applies to logging as well.
Shafie told the assembly only one site was being mined in Sabah — in Bukit Mantri, Tawau — where a mining lease for 946 hectares was issued in 2015; the environmental impact assessment was approved and mining started last year.
As of July 24 this year, some 378.08kg of gold worth RM65 million was extracted from the site.
Shafie said the state government was still owed RM1.9 million.
