Tawau gold mining operations allowed by Sabah law, says Asst Minister to CM

KOTA KINABALU: A controversial gold mining operation in Sabah's east coast Tawau district is operating legally under a Sabah mining law, says Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Abidin Madingkir.

He said the operation was covered by the Sabah Mining Ordinance 1960 which provides for the Lands and Surveys Department to oversee it.

"Under the Ordinance, the Lands and Surveys director is the chief inspectorate of Mining in Sabah," he said when contacted on Monday (Feb 12).

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However, he declined to elaborate amid an ongoing controversy following a stop-work order on the Bukit Mantri mining site issued by the federal Inspectorate for Mining under the Mineral and Geoscience Department (JMG).

The gold mining issue was raised by Merotai assemblyman Sarifuddin Hata at the Sabah state assembly sitting in November when he questioned its legality as JMG had not renewed the mining licence.

It had also issued a stop-work order on gold mining operations.

The state government in reply maintained that the mining activity was legal.

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Sarifuddin, who is a state opposition Parti Warisan assemblyman, subsequently lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in December urging it to investigate.

It was learned that Sabah MACC carried out an investigation.

On Feb 6, State Customs officials briefly detained several individuals attached to the mining company and seized about 110kg of gold bars at Tawau airport.

Customs assistant chief director for Sabah Datuk Mohd Nasir Deraman subsequently said the gold bars were returned to the company after no breach of the Customs Act 1967 was found.

Following the Customs seizure, Sarifuddin said on Friday (Feb 9), he would lodge another report if JMG refused to investigate claims of illegal mining.

He said the people of Tawau wanted to know for certain if the gold mining operations were allowed, in view of questions over the mining licence status.

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"Is it enough to have a permit from the Sabah Lands and Surveys Department to mine and sell gold just like that?" he said.

According to Sarifuddin, the federal Mineral Development (Licensing) Regulations 2016 stated that a company must obtain a mineral licence or a processing licence, and also fulfil other conditions, before being allowed to begin mining and selling minerals.

In October, MACC charged two company directors with cheating the state government of over RM1.3mil in royalties between 2019 and last year.

Lo Fui Ming and his son, Lo Teck Yong pleaded not guilty to a total of 24 charges before Sessions Court judge Jason Juga at the Special Corruptions Court on Oct 25.

According to the charge sheet, the two men were accused of cheating the state government through the Lands and Surveys Department through incomplete declarations of proceeds from their gold mining project.