PAHANG REPS AGAINST LIFTING BAUXITE BAN
They want govt to restore people’s confidence, reveal new mining SOP
TWO Pahang assemblymen, whose constituencies were affected by bauxite mining, have cautioned the government against lifting the mining moratorium in April.
PKR’s Semambu assemblyman Lee Chean Chung and his Beserah counterpart, Andansura Rabu of Pas, believed the government should do more to restore people’s confidence, including by sharing details of the new standard operating procedures (SOP), before lifting the moratorium, which was imposed on Jan 15, 2016.
Lee said bauxite mining was controversial because it was poorly regulated and unsustainable.
“Since it does not require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), illegal mining was rampant. There were no efforts to rehabilitate disused mining ponds, which, in turn, affected the people. A drowning case had happened in a disused mining pond in Balok,” he said.
“People have not forgotten when the area was covered in red dust; A trip to Kuantan was once described as ‘a journey to Mars’. Even today, many are recovering from the water and land pollution.”
Andansura questioned the efforts taken by the government to ensure that there would be no more pollution due to bauxite mining in the state capital.
“What are the changes implemented since the moratorium was enforced three years ago? Can the government assure the people that there will be no more pollution?
“These matters should be addressed before the moratorium is lifted. In the past, there was a shortage of enforcement officers, manpower and assets to monitor mining activities. Has this been resolved?”
In Terengganu, Air Putih Assemblyman Ab Razak Ibrahim said the state government had not issued bauxite mining licences, but would take action against illegal mining.
“We have issued licences for silica mining in Dungun, but not bauxite,” he said.
On Monday, Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar announced that the moratorium on bauxite mining would be lifted in April.
He said the new SOP, prepared by a task force and agreed to by the cabinet last week, would be disseminated to stakeholders at the end of this month.