Long-term impact of Kuantan's unregulated bauxite mining a cause of concern

Rampant, unregulated bauxite mining in Malaysia’s Kuantan and its impact on the region’s environment and economy have revealed loopholes more than one in the country’s industrial regulatory system. Why only Malaysia’s? - The setback has unearthed many gaps existing within the mining industry’s value chain across economies. These include issues relating to ethical mining and sustainability which have long been overlooked by the mineral development companies. It is high time the industry addressed these issues; otherwise it could experience bigger setbacks in the days to come, opine industry experts and scientists.

Environmentalists are concerned over the long-term impact on Kuantan’s environment, ecosystem and economy due to the damage done by unbridled bauxite mining activities. Environmentalist Faisal Parish from the Global Environmental Centre (GEC) said in a recent forum that bauxite mining has done serious environmental damage and the process to rehabilitate Kuantan’s ecosystem might take a while.

“We need to see what is going to happen after the three-month moratorium (three-month suspension on bauxite mining activities), as damage has already been done. Disruption to the environment and ecosystem has been done as bauxite miners have neglected proper safety procedures,” Faisal said while mentioning that marine life, too, continued to be at risk.

Faisal criticised the miners stating that their mining activities were selfish acts that had damaged the environment around Kuantan and affected the livelihood of the locals. He called the miners to own up for the damage caused by their mining activities by providing compensation to those affected He also called for legal action to be taken against mining companies, especially illegal ones.

A noted marine biologist N.Gopinath echoed Faisal’s concerns and said long-term effects of bauxite mining in the state would relate to loss or degradation of habitats, marine food sources and direct and indirect mortality of fish and aquatic organisms.

Unregulated bauxite mining in Kuantan has had widespread impact on Kuantan's economy, which is likely to take more than three months to change for the better.