KUALA LUMPUR: The moratorium on bauxite-mining in Kuantan may be extended yet again until the stakeholders fully meet all stipulated conditions set by the government.
The conditions include adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs) on bauxite transportation, routes for carrying bauxite and management at stockpile sites, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
These, he said, include that only indicated lorries which had been certified by the authorities being allowed to transport bauxite.
The moratorium was supposed to end in April but was extended by three months until July 15 to give more time to the operators to clear their remaining stockpiles.
“I will present the findings to the Cabinet so that a decision can be made,” said the minister in a reply to Fuziah Salleh (PKR-Kuantan) in the Dewan Rakyat today during debate on the National Land Code (Amendment) Bill 2016.
Fuziah had asked Wan Junaidi to clarify on what she said seemed to be a lack of commitment towards strict and specific regulations such as central stockpiling, detailed Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and designated routes for bauxite lorries.
Bauxite-mining in Kuantan was first suspended for three months in Jan 15 to address the impact of the ore-mining following concerns on environmental deterioration, adverse health effects, damaged roads and toxic contamination of water from bauxite residue.
Fuziah also raised concern that rivers and air will be polluted once the mining activities are allowed to resume, as many of the mines are located upstream in water catchment areas.
Wan Junaidi said there are currently 12 bauxite stockpiles in Kuantan, including at the port.
He said the stockpiles, which amounted to about 3.7 million tonnes, must be cleared to prevent bauxite from polluting water sources when it rains.
He said some bauxite stockpiles are stored in buildings to avoid detection by the authorities who use drones.
“The drones can't go inside building, so we can’t estimate the amount of bauxite. My officers had to go on site to check each of the stockpiles,” he said.
The Santubong MP also said he will ensure that bauxite mining will not affect any water catchment areas.