KOTA KINABALU: The approval of mining operations in Sabah is very tedious, says Kemabong assemblyman Datuk Rubin Balang.
The Gagasan Rakyat Sabah vice-president was commenting on a video published by a news portal recently, in which he was recorded as saying that it was difficult to obtain mining approvals even during Barisan Nasional's tenure or when Tan Sri Musa Aman was the chief minister.
Rubin was among the assemblymen called up by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission recently to give their statement over the video.
"My first child (not Tenom member of parliament Riduan Balang) has a background and knowledge in mining, and I knew that he had made an application for a mining permit during Musa's administration.
"At that time, there was neither a committee nor a (state) department established, as there were no experienced officers.
"But when officers with better experience from working in the federal government were deployed back to Sabah, the state government under the leadership then set up the said department," he said in a statement.
Despite the establishment of the new state department, the Sabah Economic Development Corporation chairman said the process of obtaining final approvals still took many years and incurred a high cost.
He explained that applicants needed to obtain a letter of intent from the Land and Surveys Department as mining involved natural resources.
"After they agree, a payment of RM400,000 has to be made to the state government, followed by further checks to determine whether there are any minerals or not.
"The subsequent steps would then require further permission from the Land and Surveys Department or the Forestry Department.
"For example, to inspect land spanning 2,000 acres, it is necessary to drill up to 100 metres using a special machine.
"However, that does not guarantee the volume and quality of minerals being explored," he said, adding that these processes could take years and cost millions of ringgit without any assurance of success.