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Tuesday, 21 June 2011
JOHOR BARU: After a hiatus of several months, sand thieves have returned with a vengeance to continue mining sand worth hundreds of millions of ringgit which is shipped off to Singapore.
The sandmen have expanded their activity along Sungai Johor, ignoring a national ban on the export of sand and despite a clampdown by the authorities last year.
Starprobe recently followed the trail of the illegal activity, which started from a jetty in Kota Tinggi, Johor, to Ulu Tiram, about 20km away, before the sand was loaded on to lorries after the washing process was completed.
A tug boat (top picture) on the Sungai Johor pulling a barge loaded with sand. On the left are two dredging ships. Above: Sand being loaded on to lorries by excavators at one of the collection areas in Pulau Punggol Timor in Singapore. — M. RAJAN / The StarThe sand is transported to several barges, each with a capacity of up to 4,000 tonnes. Some of the barges and tugboats were registered in Singapore.
* Full report in The Star today
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