BANTING, 12 July: The Kuala Langat Fishermen’s Association (PNKKL) strongly opposes sand dredging and transportation activities at the river mouth and territorial waters by a private company.
Its Chairman, Mohd Jaman Haris, said that they have identified a number of concerns regarding the approval of the sand dredging operation by JICOM Sdn Bhd, including the provincial permission to carry out the dredging operation.
“In the approval letter, JICOM was only allowed to conduct sand mining operations outside the waters of Selangor. The question is why the sand dredging operation is taking place approximately one nautical mile along the coast of Kuala Langat.
“What’s interesting is that in a letter dated 2 April 2013, it was approved by Datuk Seri Dauglas Unggah Embas, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment at the time.
“We are also suspicious because the approval was made a day before the Prime Minister announced the dissolution of Parliament,” he explained at the press conference of the Kuala Langat Fishermen’s Association office.
He said that the activity also involves the role of Global Zeta Properties Sdn Bhd, as the firm that buys sand from the waters of Kuala Langat from JICOM Sdn Bhd.
The sand is then transported through the waters and the mouth of Sungai Langat to Grominent Jetty Kuala Langat which is located at the mouth of Sungai Langat, near the Kampung Sawah Bridge.
At least six sand transport ships have been actively operating in the waters of Kuala Langat, along the Sijangkang Base Jetty to Tanjung Sepat.
JAICOM paid a compensation of RM100,000 as a deposit to the fishermen’s welfare trust fund to the Director General of the Department of Fisheries Malaysia.
PNKKL is of the opinion that the Fisheries Department should seek the views of the fishing community before agreeing to a project that clearly affects the fishermen and the waters of Kuala Langat.
PNKKL has already sent a letter to the Prime Minster, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, regarding the matter on June 30.
“In PNKKL’s letter to the Prime Minister, we were pretty aggrieved by the actions of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of easily approving JICOM’s project.
“The Department of Fisheries, without seeking the views of the affected fishermen, received the compensation from JICOM,” he said.
Selangor Kini understands that they started realising the activities along the waters of Kuala Langat three months ago.
It is said that nearly 400 fishermen along the coast of Kuala Langat are affected by the sand dredging and transportation.
“In the long term, 40 to 50 percent of fishermen’s catch will decline because sand mining will damage fish spawning areas.
“The method we use to catch fish here is gill netting. When there are sand dredging activities, the fishing nets get easily tangled and damaged. Similarly with traditional fishermen (sampans) at the coast. Their nets are often damaged when hit by pontoons when they go back and forth transporting sand to the stock pile.
“There is also fear of pontoons being anchored in these waters. If they are not lit, it may cause accidents to fishermen at night,” he said.
NS
