Shafie assures no coal mining at Sabah's Lost World

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal assured that Parti Warisan Sabah-led government would find other alternative source for energy in the state instead of exploiting the coal in the area, also known as Sabah's Lost World.NSTP/Khairull Azry Bidin
By Olivia Miwil - August 6, 2019 @ 1:53pm

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government will not allow any coal mining activities to take place at the Maliau Basin Conservation Area.

Its Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal assured that Parti Warisan Sabah-led government would find other alternative source for energy in the state instead of exploiting the coal in the area, also known as Sabah's Lost World.

“Even if there is a demand for coal as an energy source, we will import it from Kalimantan which is cheaper.

"The state government will also discuss with Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) for gas or depend on the Ulu Padas hydroelectric dam for power generation,” he said during the question-and-answer session at the State Assembly Sitting here today.

Shafie, who is also Sabah Finance Minister, was responding to a supplementary question by Datuk Joniston Bangkuai (Parti Bersatu Sabah-Kiulu) on the state government’s assurance that they will put to rest mining activities in the Maliau Basin.

He said stable and affordable electricity was one of the important factors which attracted investment, apart from better road infrastructure.

Earlier, in reply to an original question from Datuk Dr Jeffery Kitingan’s (Parti Solidarity Tanah Airku-Tambunan) on the state’s assurance that gold mining will not damage the environment as well as the revenue from the activity, Shafie said the only gold mine operational in Sabah is located at Bukit Mantri in Tawau, with the mineral lease grant for 946.1 hectare mining area being issued in 2015.

“It began operations in 2018 after getting the necessary approval in the form of the special Environmental Impact Assessment from the Sabah Environmental Protection department as well as the Mining Operation Scheme from Mineral and Geoscience department,” he added.

As of July 24, 2019, the operator has mined 378.08 kilogrammes of gold with market value at RM65,069,122.61 which state government has imposed a 5 per cent royalty or RM3,253,456.19 on the yield,” he added.

Related article: WWF-Malaysia tells Sabah to rethink mining proposal on Tun Mustapha Park