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Quarry Activities, Silica Sand Dredging In Johor Follow Rules

JOHOR BAHRU, Dec 5 -- Silica sand dredging and quarry operations in Pengerang reported by a newspaper yesterday comply with the stipulated procedure and regulations, the Johor Land and Mineral Office said today.Its director, Obet Tawil, said in a statement that sand dredging activities in Punggai, Pengerang, only involved silica and did not involve river sand and inland sand could not be exported."The extraction sample had been sent to a laboratory and the Mineral and Geoscience Department has confirmed it was silica sand. Therefore, it is allowed for export purposes besides for use domestically," he said.He said silica sand dredging in the area was carried out for the third time since the 1960s and 1980s and the activities had obtained the Environmental Impact Report approval.Obet said the three time silica extraction proved it did not affect the land and its surroundings.He said the Department of Environment, Kota Tinggi Land and Mineral Office and Pengerang Land District Office constantly monitored the activities.On quarry operations in Teluk Ramunia, Pengerang, he said it involved five plots belonging to Perisind Holding, a subsidiary of Johor Islamic Corporation.Two of the plots, he said, were used as processing factory sites while the other three, of which only two were in operations, were used for stone extraction."The lease tenure is 21 years ending 2023," said Obet.He said works using explosives at the quarries were not carried out every day and this year, only 25 explosions were set at the two quarries in the first 10 months.Obet said stones extracted from the quarry operations were allowed for exports if it did not exceed 9 inches in diameter as spelt out by the rules."This means all quarry operations and silica sand dredging are in compliance with all stipulated procedures and regulations," he said.He said the quarry area was for formerly a bauxite mine ran by Promet Fabrication Sdn Bhd until September 2000.Three big craters reported in the area, he said, were formed when it was used as a bauxite mine, and the quarry operations thereafter had nothing to do with them.He said there was no level covering requirement in the mining and quarry works."However, the Land and Mineral Office will summon the operator to cover the area after it is no longer in production," he said.