Despite the glaring thumbs-down in the recently-released Auditor-General’s Report, the Selangor government has insisted that their revenues have gone up throughout the years.

khalid ibrahim and selangor state In a statement, Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim said that since June 2008, when Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB) was formed to monitor and streamline the sand mining activities, the collection has actually gone up from year to year.

“Royalty payments are not the only revenue that the state government obtains from sand mining. Since the formation of KSSB, the revenue includes profits from the sale of sand,” he said in a statement.

According to other documents provided by the state government, the Khalid administration also disputes the Auditor-General’s report of having achieved only RM4.62 million in royalties, claiming that they have actually achieved RM5.67 million for the whole of 2009.

azlan And for the first half of 2010, they also achieved RM5 million in royalties alone.

Under the previous BN state government, the revenue from the sand mining activities were only from royalties paid to the District Office.

But when KSSB was formed with the objective of streamlining the sand mining activities, thus putting a curb on sand theft, KSSB as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the state government also pads up the revenue from its profits.

According to the state’s official documents, the restructuring of sand mining activities in the state also contributed to the dip in royalties.

“However, if you add the royalties and KSSB’s profits, the state government’s income from sand mining is a lot more now,” said Khalid.

KSSB not in charge of enforcement

The state government had also refuted the Auditor-General’s observation that KSSB has been lax in their enforcement of the sand mines.

NONE “We are compelled to explain that KSSB has no legal powers over the enforcement at the sand mines. However, the security department of KSSB does monitor the mine areas where they are licensed,” said the statement.

However, the state government maintained that there is already a special task force headed by the state secretary to enforce and monitor illegal sand mining activities.

The effort will then involve the Selangor Land and Minerals Office, the District Office as well as the police and the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela).

“And from the beginning of the year to (yesterday), the Land and Minerals Office as well as the District Office have nabbed 96 sand thieves,” said the statement.

The state government has also announced a reward of up to RM5,000 for information that can lead to the arrest of sand thieves.

Drop in sand-mining revenue in S'gor

S'gor water assets worth RM10.98 bil, not RM1 bil