KOTA KINABALU: A state assemblyman says he will lodge a second report on an alleged illegal gold mining operation in Tawau if the Minerals and Geoscience Department does not investigate the matter.
Merotai assemblyman Sarifuddin Hata, who lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last December, said a probe must be done as Customs Department personnel had seized gold bars at Tawau airport on Feb 6.
He said he wanted to know whether gold mining activities were still allowed, claiming that the mining company did not have its licence renewed.
“I was told that the company’s mining licence expired last year,” he said in a statement yesterday.
In the Tawau airport raid, Customs assistant chief director (Sabah zone) Datuk Mohd Nasir Deraman confirmed an initial seizure of gold bars weighing about 110kg.
He also said several people carrying the gold bars were detained.
In a statement, Mohd Nasir said the gold bars were however returned to the company after Customs officials found that there were no laws broken under the Customs Act, nor subsidiary laws under the Act.
Sarifuddin wanted to know how the company was allowed to mine gold and take the gold bars out of the state.
