Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh is concerned that without proper guidelines, the recently announced extension to the bauxite moratorium in Pahang to clear excess stockpiles may be used by miners to sneak out their illegally mined ores.

"During the previous 15-month moratorium, the stockpiles at the 12 locations only shrunk by 3.25 million tonnes. However, an unending stream of lorries ferried bauxite and have begun to line up on the roads again, as illegal bauxite mining continues during the night," she said in a statement.

Fuziah called for clear guidelines and stringent enforcement by all the relevant agencies to curb illegal mining and attempts to sneak out illegally mined ores.

"I worry that the situation may worsen if authorities do not take action," she said.

Fuziah explained that while the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said that special permits are needed to allow for the stockpiles to be emptied, the state government has yet to set up monitoring to ensure that the lorries licensed to do so are carrying ores from existing stockpiles and not from illegal mining.

Guidelines and set procedures needed

And without any guidelines and set procedures on the matter, she warned, the enforcement authorities might as well be blind to such activities.

"If this continues, without state government intervention, I fear the extension of the special AP (approved permit) to clean up the stockpiles will be nothing more than a means to allow illegal mining, and not focused on remedial work to clean up the state," Fuziah said.

She suggested that the special APs be temporarily halted until the state government identifies a mechanism to clean up the 2.15 million tonnes of existing bauxite stockpiles and strict enforcement is set up to ensure that illegal mining is stopped and no illegal ores are sneaked out using the APs.

"Do not gamble away the future of the people of Kuantan. Our safety and health are more important than raking in profits from the bauxite industry that does not have sustainable guidelines," she said.

On Tuesday, the moratorium on bauxite mining in Pahang was extended to another three months until June 30.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the extension was agreed by the cabinet in accordance with the Pahang state government's decision.

"It will give entrepreneurs time to clear all the remaining bauxite stockpiles and ensure mitigation of pollution in the supply chain from the mines to being exported," Wan Junaidi said in a statement today.