Illicit bauxite mining still a cause of concern for Pahang government

Despite the decision taken by Pahang's Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to extend the bauxite mining moratorium by three more months, until March 31, uncleaned stockpiles of bauxite ore were traced at abandoned mining sites of the region. This indicates at the fact that fresh mining of the aluminium ore is still continuing in the affected areas of Pahang.

While making the moratorium extension announcement on December 22, last year, Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had mentioned that it was meant to allow legitimate bauxite miners to clear the remaining ore stockpile at the mining sites of Felda Bukit Kuantan, but it seems that his reminder has fallen to deaf ears.

The hazardous nature of bauxite stockpiles were noticed first-hand by a team of journalists who visited an area that was allegedly freshly mined. The scene reminded them of the red dust that hung low in the air and was everywhere on the streets and waterbodies in 2015. The government has since then expedited efforts to curb unregulated mining by imposing a ban in January 2016. Due to delay in clearance of bauxite stockpiles, however, the moratorium was extended in December again.

Clearing of the remaining bauxite, Junaidi says, must be done immediately in light of the state government’s push to attract tourists as part of the planned Visit Pahang 2017 programme. But the prospect of such an initiative now hinges on the need for cleanliness of ecotourism sites like Pantai Cherating, Balok and Sungai Lembing.

{googleAdsense}

With illicit bauxite mining still continuing in Pahang, it now becomes all the more imperative that the federal and state governments along with their agencies, stakeholders and of course, the residents get their act together and cooperate on an urgent basis to clean up any remaining stockpile.