Some of the heavy machineries that were seized by Land and Survey Department.
KOTA KINABALU: Five excavators and eight semi-machine suction pumps or pontoons have been seized by the Lands and Surveys Department (LSD) during a joint operation with the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the General Operation Force (GOF) for suspected illegal sand mining activities in Papar and Tuaran.
LSD said in a statement that two sites in Papar and four sites in Tuaran were raided by enforcement teams following a three-day operation beginning on May 11.
Three workers were detained by LSD in Tuaran while no arrests were made in either site in Papar as the perpetrator managed to escape before the LSD team arrived at the scene.
All the heavy machineries are currently being kept by LSD for further investigation.
According to LSD record, all the sites that were raided showed that the operators’ Temporary Occupational Licences (TOLs) were under renewal, except for one site in Tuaran which operated without any valid license.
LSD will open investigation papers for this purpose and if found to be flaunting the laws, necessary action would to be taken in accordance with Section 168 of the Sabah Land Ordinance. The department will also give its full cooperation to MACC in conducting the investigation.
LSD has been monitoring Tuaran River and Papar River since last year hence the joint raid is very much lauded and timely.
According to the LSD record, the department has made numerous raids on illegal sand mining activities since 2015.
Among them were raids in Papar on August 2015, Kota Belud and Ranau on September 2015, Sandakan on October 2015 and Penampang end of 2015, while this year saw raids made on illegal hill cutting at Kampung Sugud, Kg Kolopis and Kg Togudon in Penampang, followed by Tawau, Kudat, Papar and Tuaran.