Illegal bauxite mining is unstoppable despite moratorium in Pahang

<p>Despite a year and a half-long ban on bauxite mining, the exports of bauxite are mounting for months in Pahang. The illegal mining activities, unless regulated, will continue in the future.&nbsp;The moratorium on bauxite mining in Pahang is currently in place until December 31, 2017.</p> <p>Malay daily&nbsp;Berita Harian&rsquo;s investigations for over a week&nbsp;showed that the illegal activity is still taking place in Kuantan. A local trader said that the bauxite mining had &ldquo;never stopped&rdquo; in spite of bauxite mining ban.</p> <p><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/Bauxite%20mining%20in%20Pahang.jpg" alt="news" width="448" height="300" /></p> <p>Also, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) remanded nine men over illegal bauxite mining activities. &ldquo;The MACC had also raided the Pahang&rsquo;s PTG Office, Customs Department and the Kuantan Port to obtain several documents related to the investigation,&rdquo;&nbsp;the Bernama news agency reported.</p> <p>The commission had detained 18 lorries transporting bauxite from illegal mines around Bukit Goh and Bukit Sagu.</p> <p>{googleAdsense}</p> <p>Recently,&nbsp;Fuziah Salleh, a member of parliament, said, &ldquo;For the last six months, we&rsquo;ve received reports from residents about the presence of fresh excavations. That is why the volumes of the stockpiles do not go down.&rdquo;</p> <p>It was reported that 5.8 million tonnes of bauxite has been exported from Malaysia as of June 8.</p>