KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has proposed five governance improvements to tighten the approval process for prospecting licences in Sabah’s Land and Survey Department (JTU) and Sabah Mineral Management Sdn Bhd (SMM).
In a statement on Friday (Oct 24), MACC’s governance investigation division said the recommendations followed a review which identified one weakness in JTU and four in SMM.
Among the concerns were the absence of comprehensive standard operating procedures (SOPs) for licence applications and uncertainty over whether applicants should first submit a Letter of Interest (LOI) to SMM or the Chief Minister’s Office.
The review also found that some applications which failed to meet the due diligence criteria at the DDA Management Committee (DDA MC) stage were still brought before SMM’s board of directors — chaired by the Sabah Chief Minister — and that there was no SOP specifically for PL extensions.
The MACC proposals include drafting detailed SOPs for PL applications, requiring LOIs to be submitted directly to SMM, updating due diligence guidelines for rejected or deferred cases, introducing a specific SOP for licence extensions, and establishing an online portal outlining SMM’s background, roles and application procedures.
Both JTU and SMM have agreed in principle to adopt the proposals, formalised through a Governance Improvement Report signed by JTU director Datuk Sr Bernard Liew Chiu Min and SMM chief executive officer Natasha Sim Nuo, witnessed by BPT deputy director Ahmad Shukri Mohamad Taib.
Also present were the Sabah Minister’s Integrity Adviser Awang Samsul Baharam Bungso, representatives from the State Secretary’s Office, and senior management of JTU and SMM.
