JOHOR BARU - SAND worth millions of ringgit is being illegally 'floated' out of the country daily via Sungai Johor here, The Star reported on Thursday, saying this has been going on for the past three years.
A Star team investigating the lucrative trade found that the sand ends up in Singapore, despite a ban on sand export imposed by the Malaysian Government.
Sand extraction is a common sight along the river as mining syndicates illegally transport millions of tonnes of sand, even on weekends and public holidays, via Danga Bay and Port of Tanjung Pelepas. The culprits use barges to pass through the international waters from Kota Tinggi and Ulu Tiram before arriving at local ports for shipment to Singapore.
The probe revealed that the barges are directed towards a private jetty or landing point at Pulau Punggol Timur in Singapore where the sand is unloaded.
A Singaporean company, which obtains the sand from a Malaysian partner, supplies it to the Housing Board of Singapore for its construction projects.
The Star team's visit to the landing point revealed that the sand from the barges was loaded onto trucks before being taken to the Pulau Punggol Timur jetty for storage. To circumvent the Malaysian ban on sand export, the syndicates are believed to be exporting this highly sought-after material as processed or 'packed' silica sand, an item that can be exported.
By obtaining sand from its Malaysian partner, the Singaporean company is making huge profits as it only pays S$30 per cubic metre compared with S$40 for the same amount of sand from Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. It is estimated that since August 2007, more than three million cubic metres of sand has been smuggled out through Sungai Johor.
Starprobe's findings also revealed that more than 90 per cent of the sand was extracted from Sungai Johor while the rest was from sand mines from the Kota Tinggi and Johor Baru districts.
-- THE STAR
Wha Wha Wha? We getting lower quality houses though we pay more?
Malaysia no komplain tak boleh arh..........?
No evidence HDB sand is illegal
SINGAPORE - Singapore says there is no evidence that sand received by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has been smuggled out of Malaysia as alleged by The Star newspaper.
In response to media queries, a spokesperson for the Ministry of
National Development (MND) said that HDB engages sand suppliers on a
commercial basis to supply sand for its development works.
As part of the procurement process, HDB requires its tenderers to
produce quality certificates and export permits to confirm that their
supply is from approved concessions in the source countries.
In addition, the spokesperson said Singapore Customs has in place
procedures to check and investigate the import of goods at the
checkpoints.
Sand suppliers must have the necessary import permits to come through
the Pulau Punggol Timor Aggregate Terminal, which is managed by the
Building and Construction Authority (BCA) on the government's behalf.
In a report on Wednesday, The Star newspaper alleged that sand worth
millions of ringgit is being illegally "floated" out of Malaysia through
Sungai Johor - and that this has been going on for the past three
years.
The newspaper said its investigating team found that the sand ends up in
Singapore, despite an export ban by the Malaysian government.
The paper reported that mining syndicates used barges to illegally
transport the sand, via Danga Bay and Tanjung Pelepas port to Singapore.
It said a Singapore company obtains the sand from a Malaysian partner
and supplies it to HDB for construction projects.
To circumvent the ban on sand export, the syndicates are believed to
have masked the sand as processed or "packed" silica sand, which can be
exported.
The Star said further investigations revealed that the illegal business
started after a contract worth RM62.4 million (S$26.7 million) was
awarded by the Malaysian government to a private company to carry out
redesign and rectification works at Sungai Johor.
Checks revealed that since the project started in August 2007, a total
of 3 million cubic metres of sand had been smuggled out.
The paper estimated that at S$30 per cubic metre, the syndicates could
have raked in RM207 million over the two-year period of the project.
After the project's completion, the syndicates continued to "export"
sand to Singapore.
- CNA/ir
the news is timely to counter the land swap deal for railway.
Panel to curb sand smuggling
PETALING JAYA - MALAYSIA has set up a high-level integrity committee to check sand smuggling activity.
Home Ministry director-general Mahmood Adam said the committee was set up based on a proposal submitted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). 'We are taking an integrated approach to resolve this issue,'' he said, responding to reports in The Star which has highlighted massive sand smuggling activities that had caused Malaysia to lose sand believed to be worth hundreds of millions of ringgit over the years.
The committee, formed after the National Security Council raised security threat alert over rampant sand smuggling, is expected to look into regulatory aspects as part of the preventive measure to check smuggling.
Commenting on the issue, Senator Ezam Mohd Noor urged the MACC to take stern and immediate action against officers who had been abetting smuggling syndicates.
'Such massive movement of sand would not have occurred without corruption,' he said. 'MACC must investigate and take action against all corrupt individuals even if it involved high ranking officers and politicians.''
Mr Ezam said it was impossible for law enforcement officers not to see the movement of lorries and barges laden with sand.
In Johor Baru, Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said sand mining activities could be traced with 24-hour surveillance but the state did not have the manpower to cope, adding that it was difficult for the state government to trace every exit point for illegal sand miners as there were many possible routes.
Abdul Ghani said the state was conducting stringent checks at the border to keep tabs on those who bring sand out but claim it was silica. 'Both silica and sand are very similar,' he said. Chemists were also sent there to ascertain if the load was sand or silica, he added. -- THE STAR
hahahahaha. star lying lah