PETALING JAYA: The sand said to be from Malaysia and exported to India may have been sold illegally, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
“As far as I know, on record, we have never issued any APs (approved permits) to anyone to sell sand to India.
“There seems to be some hanky-panky by someone here,” he told FMT today.
He was commenting on a report in the Times of India that the first batch of sand from Malaysia had arrived at a port in the state of Tamil Nadu.
The newspaper had reported that a private firm based in Pudukottai, in India, had imported the consignment comprising 55,000 tonnes of sand last week.
The cost of the imported Malaysian sand was said to be 60 rupees (RM4) per cubic feet, 50% cheaper than the river sand from Tamil Nadu that costs between 110 and 120 rupees.
The report also quoted S Ramaprabhu, honorary secretary of the Builders Association of India, Southern Centre, Chennai, as saying that the import had boosted developers’ efforts in importing river sand from Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia and Cambodia.
He said the Tamil Nadu government should facilitate the initiative as it would reduce dependence and environmental exploitation on the state’s riverbeds.
Wan Junaidi said he would find out if any company had breached the terms of their APs.
“If they did, I will discuss with the prime minister to revoke their licences,” he said.
On Aug 9, Wan Junaidi was reported by The Sun as saying that Putrajaya had yet to grant approval to any company in the country to export sand to India.
“Any country can say they are going to import sand from Malaysia. As far as I know, we are not going to export sand to India,” he had said.
“Despite the sand export ban (since 1997) being lifted in 2015, the government has yet to approve any exports.”
Wan Junaidi was then commenting on an earlier assertion by Karnataka state’s law minister TB Jayachandra that a Malaysian company had been shortlisted to export the sand which would be available in Bengaluru city at 175 rupees (RM11.75) for a 50kg bag.
In an Aug 9 report in FMT, Anthony Tan Kee Huat, executive director of the Centre for Environment, Technology and Development Malaysia (Cetdem), had expressed concern over the negative impact sand exports to India would have on Malaysia’s environment and natural resources.
Pointing out that the Indian states were reported to have wanted to conserve their natural resources, he said: “What about conserving our own natural resources?”
He also questioned the credibility of the two Malaysian companies said to be in negotiations with the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu state governments, asking if they were licensed to dredge river sand here in Malaysia. -FMT
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