3-month halt on bauxite mining to control pollution, says Putrajaya

Putrajaya is imposing a three-month freeze on all bauxite mining activities in Pahang to tackle the pollution caused by the industry. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, January 6, 2016.A three-month moratorium will be imposed on all bauxite mining activities in‎ Pahang starting January 15, to tackle the pollution caused by the industry, Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Wan Jaafar (pic) announced today.

The natural resources and‎ environment minister said if the industry failed to “contain” the pollution problem within three months, the moratorium would be extended indefinitely.

But he said the government was not looking towards banning the bauxite mining activities entirely.

“This morning we had a Cabinet meeting, and now we leave it up to the industry. If the industry wants to manage this environment issue, it can be done in three months.

“But if it cannot carry this out in three months, then we will extend the moratorium,” Wan Junaidi told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

The first month of the moratorium will see all stockpiles cleared from the port, which he said were the main cause of the polluted sea.

All 11 stockpiles existing outside the area would be cleared in the second month, he said.

He said they would "reinstall everything" in the third month and move all legal stockpiles to an integrated stockpile centre, as well as impose new terms and conditions for the approved permits (AP).

"APs will be issued based on the port's capacity. So this will automatically cause the stockpiles to be cleared and the number of lorries reduced.

Meanwhile, the government would not be issuing new APs within the moratorium period, unless the companies had existing contracts in the industry.

He added that companies that refused to clear their stockpiles within the moratorium period would have their APs withdrawn.

"We are not stopping the bauxite industry, there have been no instructions to do so," said Wan Junaidi.

Meanwhile, Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said those affected by the bauxite mining had not asked the state government for compensation.

"My advice to the public is remain calm, we are doing everything possible to assist them. We are not in denial," said Adnan.

He said the state government earned RM46.7 million in royalty from bauxite mining last year, compared with RM2.4 million in 2014.

Rampant bauxite mining has been blamed for turning rivers and the shoreline off Kuantan, on the peninsula’s east coast, red after two days of heavy rain earlier this week.

Since Kuantan ramped up its mining of bauxite for export to China last year, residents in the area had complained about pollution, caused by red dust from the mining activities and leakage from lorries transporting bauxite to the Kuantan port.

It was reported that in the first 11 months of 2015, Malaysia exported more than 20 million tonnes of bauxite to China, up nearly 700% from the previous year. In 2013, it only shipped around 162,000 tonnes. – January 6, 2016.