Bauxite mining in Felda Bukit Sagu, Kuantan. The health of Kuantan folk is suffering as a result of the rampant mining in the state. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, December 19, 2015.There has to be only one explanation, teacher Syed Sharinnizam Syed Mohd Shah thought, as he observed more and more of his pupils stricken with breakouts of rashes and respiratory problems.
It had to be the red dust choking the air around the religious school, Maahad Tahfiz Anwar At-Tanzil in Tanjung Pasir near Kuantan, Pahang, which sits by a main road used by lorries transporting bauxite ore from the mines inland to the port.
“Maybe (the rashes) could have been caused by dirty laundry or anything else if it only happened to one person. But it happened to one pupil after another. Itchiness, coughing and fever,” Syed Sharinnizam, 32, said.
His only child, six-month-old Syed Abdul Qadir, also suffers breathing difficulties and was hospitalised.
“He was not born with it. But he had to be admitted because of breathing problems. I cannot not see any other reason except the bauxite mining,” he said when met by the media on a recent visit to bauxite mining areas in Kuantan.
Dr Syed Abdul Khaliq Syed Abdul Hamid, a paediatrician at Kuantan Hospital, said he was seeing worsening cases of asthma in more than 10 children living near bauxite mining areas.
“I have many patients in bauxite areas with very poorly controlled asthma. They can’t sleep at night because of difficulty in breathing, and this is affecting their school and development,” he said.
The doctor believes that exposure to bauxite dust is the trigger because his patients’ conditions improved once they were removed from their daily environment.
“When we admit the children to hospital, the child is able to sleep and able to breath better.”
One case was so bad, the child stayed in hospital for about one month before the lungs improved, Dr Syed Khalid added.
For children with weak lungs, he has even advised their parents to move out of the area and find new homes away from mining sites.
“Some were strongly advised to move to Pekan. It does affect livelihoods because when things like this happen, it affects not only the child but also the working parents.
“It’s an additional cost to take care of the children at the hospital.”
The land surrounding a primary school in the Bukit Goh area is red and scarred by bauxite mining. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, December 19, 2015.Health impact
Dr Syed Khalid said long-term exposure to bauxite could have an impact on the kidneys because of heavy metals, such as aluminium and arsenic.
“They are poisonous after long-term exposure. The effect on the on kidneys can take place only after many years,” he said, adding that Kuantan residents could no longer afford to wait for action against rampant bauxite mining which is feeding aluminium production in China.
Chairman of Pahang Hospice Dr Pushpa Ratnam also said other trace metals like thorium, cadmium and uranium were also present in exposure to bauxite dust and could be absorbed by the body through inhalation.
“These can cause respiratory and neurological problems,” she said.
Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh has long expressed concern over the problem in her constituency, and her fears have now extended to the safety of raw water supply from Sungai Pinang and Mabok, where miners wash extracted bauxite.
“The mercury level in Sungai Pinang is 14 times higher than the levels allowed, while the levels in Sungai Mabok is 10 times higher,” she told the media.
Fuziah also said these two rivers merge with Sungai Kuantan, which is the main source of raw water feeding the Semambu water treatment plant.
“These are the main sources of drinking water for Kuantan folk," said the PKR MP.
The effects of mercury on human health included insanity and paralysis, as well as death, she added, citing Minamata disease in Japan caused by industrial leaks in the late 1950s.
“If we do not nip this problem in the bud, we might be facing a major tragedy,” she said.
Both legal and illegal bauxite mining are a cause of a concern and Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob has been criticised for being slow to deal with uncontrolled mining and resulting pollution.
On December 7, he said Putrajaya’s Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the state government would announce a joint plan for dealing with mining activities in the state by year-end.
Last month, a petition signed by 2,400 Kuantan residents calling for a halt to all bauxite mining activities was brought up for debate in the Dewan Rakyat but was rejected by Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia. – December 19, 2015.
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