ALOR SETAR: The sand mining activity in Sungai Kulim which is allegedly causing riverbank erosion was approved by the state government in January.
Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said the state executive council gave approval for the quarry operator to extract sand along a 300m at the river near Kampung Tok Rasul in Kulim.
"The state executive council (exco) issued an approval letter for the quarry operation on Jan 20.
"I was informed by the state Land and Mining Office (PTG) on claims over illegal sand mining activity in Sungai Kulim near Kampung Tok Rasul and I wish to stress here that the quarry operator had obtained an approval from the state government," he told reporters after chairing the weekly state exco meeting here today.
Sanusi said the Jitra-based company was given a one-year permit to extract sand from the river with an estimated 5,000 cubic metre monthly output, generating an income of RM20,000 to the state government.
It was reported that residents in three villages in Kulim were crying foul over sand mining activities in their area which they claimed has caused serious riverbank erosion along Sungai Kulim over the past three years.
Residents claimed that sand mining activities at a quarry site had resulted in an alteration to the water currents, posing a threat to the life of villagers in Kampung Tok Rasul, Kampung Sungai Badak, and Kampung Dusun.
Sanusi added that based on observations by PTG, the river depth has depleted besides the emergence of sandbars in the middle of the river.
He said due to this, the river current was altered, hitting the riverbank.
"Claims on riverbank erosion actually happened outside the quarry operating site and based on observations, the riverbank erosion had taken place even before the sand mining approval was issued.
"The distance between the riverbank to the border of plot 268, 271 and 273 is about 20m, so the erosion happened on land belonging to the state, not individual owners," he explained.
However, Sanusi said the quarry operator had agreed to repair the damaged riverbank and improve the flow of the river current.
Checks at the site today showed that sand mining was operating as usual at the quarry, with heavy machineries extracting sand from the river.