A-G's office urged to act against quarry operator
Published on: Saturday, March 25, 2017
Penampang: Individual landowners in a village near Kokol in Manggatal are urging the State Attorney-General's office to look into and act accordingly on a quarry operator whose activities they claim have already encroached into State land.According to activist Willybroad Missi, the operator has been active at the site for over 10 years.He claimed that the operator, initially, quarried for stones within the ambit of the designated area.
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"But, lately, the operator has boldly gone over the boundary," he said.Missi, who is also a landowner in the village, said, in July 2008, former Inanam Assemblyman Datuk Johnny Goh, acting on a complaint, went to inspect the area concerned.Officers from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), City Hall, Water Department and Land and Survey Department were also present during the inspection."At that time, I was there in my capacity as Consumer Association of Sabah (Cash) Land Bureau Chairman," he said.
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However, nothing materialised after the inspection despite the promise that the landowners' plight would be looked into, he said.Feeling frustrated over the situation, two months later in September, Missi said he lodged another complaint, this time over the non-action by the relevant authorities.
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Sadly, there was still no action, he said, especially from the Land and Survey Department.Then in August 2012, Missi urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the Land and Survey Department for not taking appropriate action on the illegal quarrying activities.He said the company, which also operates a well-known construction company in the State, seemed to be well informed of any inspection from the authorities."When government officers went there to make surprise inspections, the company's heavy machinery would be back within the licensed quarrying area," he claimed.He said there was a land inquiry in November 2012 involving the quarry operator and the villagers and that after the discussion, quarrying activities were halted temporarily."The operator resumed work with greater zest after the Director of the Land and Survey Department was replaced by someone else," he said.The operator, he said, went even as far as demolishing a hut that was built on a piece of native land that has been applied for by an individual.Even the rubber trees and fruit trees were not spared by the operator's greed as they were bulldozed to make the area looked as if never inhabited by anyone or without any sign of planting.Missi said he last made a complaint regarding the matter in November 2015, after which enforcement officers went to inspect the area very promptly although to no avail because the quarry operator continued to quarry for stones on "State land".Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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