New SOP on bauxite mining sent to Malaysian federal govt.

The proposed improved standard operating procedure on bauxite mining has been completed and sent to the federal government, said Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, in Kuantan, Malaysia.

He said the SOP, which was produced with the cooperation of all relevant agencies in the state, was submitted to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

"We have sent our recommendations. I urge all quarters to be patient," he said in a media briefing after opening a 2016 Malaysian Rubber Board awareness programme yesterday.

Adnan said the recommendations included the setting up of new gathering centres and identifying routes to contain pollution.

The federal government had imposed a three-month moratorium on bauxite mining in Pahang from January 15 to enable the formulation of an effective SOP to address issues related to bauxite mining, including pollution.

Call for better rules for bauxite mining

Despite the heatwave engulfing the country, a group of protesters walked over 360km from Kuantan to Parliament to call on the Government to introduce better regulations for bauxite mining. The Red2Green group started walking on March 12. Yesterday, they handed over their memorandum to a representative of the Natural Resources and Development Ministry.

It was received by the ministry’s principal assistant secretary Mohd Nazif Jamaludin, who said he would do his best to urge the ministry to acknowledge the requests in the memorandum.

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