Wednesday July 8, 2009
Sand worth millions being mined from TNB reserve land
Story and photos by ELAN PERUMAL
A SYNDICATE is stealing sand worth millions of ringgit from a TNB reserve land near Desa Kuala Garing in Rawang, right under the noses of authorities.
The big-scale illegal sand-mining operation has been going on for almost six months and residents are alleging that some Gombak Land Office personnel are protecting the culprits. They claim that vehicles from the land office are frequently seen in the vicinity.
Residents have also expressed fears that the activity would result in a major disaster as the encroachers had gone much closer to the electrical pylons in the area.
Greener pasture: More mining taking place near the farmland. Several farms operated by locals had also been destroyed in order to make way for the activity.
A check by StarMetro revealed that heavy machinery is a common sight in the area.
Within minutes of arriving at the mining area, two four-wheel drive vehicles and a car came close to the vehicle that was taking me into the area.
I sensed danger and when a local offered me a ride on his motorcyle, I quickly climbed on to the back seat and entered deeper into the area where I captured the activities on film.
After realising that I was being closely watched and followed, the motorcyclist decided to take me out of the area through a narrow path that led to the main road.
Bad state: Jalan Kuala Garing has been damaged by the heavy vehicles entering the area. During the time spent in the area, I also saw a black four-wheel drive which belonged to the Gombak Land Office in the area.
Not happy with the photographs I had taken, I decided to go into the area again via the farms.
After walking quite a distance, I managed to take the photographs that I wanted.
According to the Kuala Garing Village Security and Development Committee secretary M. Ravi, the sand-mining activity had been going on since February.
He said they had encroached into two thirds of the Kuala Garing forest which belonged to the Selangor government.
“I was told that they will work in the area for another year before the land is fully cleared of the sand,” he said.
Ravi said the digging activity had widened and was now near the foot of the pylons and that what used to be a stream had become a river.
Dangerous: Residents fear that the electrical pylons would collapse if the sand-mining activity continues. “This is a stream that connects to Sungai Rawang and now this looks like a river to me,’’ he said, pointing at the stream.
Ravi said the sand-mining activity would start as early as 4am daily and go on till 6pm.
He said Jalan Kuala Garing, which connects Jalan Rawang to several housing estates, four schools and the mining land, had also been also damaged by the heavy vehicles.
“The vehicles also cause massive traffic congestion at the junction enroute to Jalan Kuala Garing from Jalan Rawang. There are four schools near the junction and the vehicles are a nuisance to the motorists,’’ he said
N. Parameswaran, 44, said the syndicate’s activities had destroyed his jasmine flower farm. He said he had been growing the flowers on the land for seven years before it was taken over by the syndicate.
“I was away on holiday for two weeks and they cleared my land during my absence,” he said, adding that he had lost a monthly income of RM2,000 due to their action.
Parameswaran said he had protested and pleaded with the syndicate members but to no avail.
He said they had even threatened him and told him that there was nothing he could do to stop them.
State Agriculture chairman Yakob Safari, when contacted, said that the mining activity was illegal and the state was investigating allegations that the officers from the district office were involved.
Source:
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