By Yussof J. draw
KOTA KINABALU: Borneo Cement (Sabah) Sdn Bhd’s (BCS) development project that will change the landscape of Tongod district will start land works and forest clearance starting early next September.
BCB Managing Director, Michael Kinsuan, said the Site Preparation Plan has been approved by the Sabah Department of Environment (DOE), effective July 19, allowing the first phase contract to be executed.
According to him, BCS Chairman Datuk Masiung Banah has already been informed about the matter, and he ordered the work to be carried out immediately after the boundary measurement is completed.
Kinsuan said that in order to speed up the first phase, all works will be carried out simultaneously, including levelling the factory site, quarry mine, road, electricity, and water line.
“We have just obtained the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate from Putrajaya last February, allowing the factory to operate.
“However, the construction of roads, electricity, water, and telecommunication towers must be completed first to facilitate communication,” he said when meeting at his office yesterday.
All contract plans are implemented according to Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), which are closely monitored by EIA and Sabah DOE, he explained.
He said the road network will be built from Kampung Matiku, Nabawan, to the factory site in Kampung Kayawoi for a distance of 26 kilometres.
Kinsuan said that DOE has also approved the quarry license and soil research as an investment package for the clinker and cement factory, which cost RM1.2 million.
According to him, 40 MW of electricity will be connected from Nabawan as far as 39 kilometres, which was built simultaneously with the internet line as far as 60 kilometres, which crosses several villages.
Commenting further, Kinsuan said BCS will also build its own dam and water treatment plant from a nearby river.
He said all the infrastructure and facilities built will provide convenience to the surrounding residents.
“This first phase work contract will take about a year before factory operations are activated,” he said.
According to Kinsuan, factory operations will only start as early as January 2026. The cement factory will be equipped with automatic machines and will be digitally controlled.
A stone roller conveyor will be used along 3.0 kilometres from the clinker quarry to the cement processing plant.
