KUALA LUMPUR: Those expected to clear their bauxite stockpiles at the Kuantan Port by the middle of next month are worried they will fail to do so in time.
They were supposed to start clearing out the mountains of bauxite, totalling more than three million tonnes, lying idle at the port, since a moratorium was imposed on the industry.
The New Straits Times learnt that following the cancellation and freezing of approved permits (APs), the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry had held back until only a few days ago the issuance of the document to enable the mineral to be exported.
Following the moratorium, which took effect last Friday, the ministry had made it clear that if exporters failed to clear their bauxite stockpiles by the deadline, they would be transported to a centralised area to be ready in a month’s time.
With its capacity, Kuantan Port can only facilitate the export of no more than three million tonnes of bauxite a month.
With the current backlog, the exporters would likely be forced to not only move their stockpiles to the centralised area, but also those extracted before the moratorium came into effect.
Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, the minister tasked with ensuring Kuantan is free from bauxite pollution, told the NST in an interview recently that he wanted the port to look like a port, and not like a kiln, by next month.
Reports showed that a poor bauxite-management system at the port, among others, had contributed to a host of environmental issues.
The NST yesterday spoke to Junaidi about the issuance of APs.
He said the ministry had to carry out due diligence before issuing them.
Since the cancellation of the estimated 300 APs several days before the moratorium was announced, the ministry had, as of yesterday, reissued only a handful to several companies.
“The delay was because the ministry and Kuantan Port have to iron out several issues,” said Junaidi.
Meanwhile, those looking into plugging the loopholes in the bauxite industry pointed out the disparity of the number of legal mines compared with the number of APs issued.
Loopholes in the system, they said, had allowed illegal miners to be issued APs.
The NST had recently reported that only 36 bauxite mines in Kuantan were legal.
The others, estimated to be more than 200, were illegal.
Junaidi had acceded in a recent interview that the large number of APs issued was due to a lax application system, which had been developed in the interest of facilitating business.
This, he said, made it difficult for due diligence to be carried out.
“In the past, application for
APs was done online, and if within three days, the ministry failed to respond, the application would
be sent to the ministry secretary-general and the division in charge.
“The application would be automatically approved.
“When the bauxite issue cropped up, I took the AP permit approval out of the system.
“Because of this, it has to be approved manually and it takes longer,” he said, adding that he had briefed the cabinet on the move.
Junaidi assured exporters that the stockpiles would be cleared eventually.
“The port will be able to clear all the stockpiles there and start cleaning up.
“After that, it will have to put in place precautionary and mitigation measures, including cleaning up bays and putting in a filtration system.
“New APs for the existing 11 stockpile areas in Kuantan will only be issued once the port has performed all these measures.
“If this (clean-up) is delayed, the stockpiles will go nowhere,” he said, adding that the Transport Ministry would help to ensure that no bauxite was removed from these areas until the present stockpiles at the port had been cleared.
Junaidi expressed hope that the state Land and Mines Department (PTG) would make sure no more bauxite left the port without being taxed first.
“I hope PTG will verify and charge every tonne that leaves the port for shipment.”