Residents of Kampung Bukit Koman in Raub, Pahang, today won their first court victory after nearly four years, with the Federal Court granting them leave to challenge a Court of Appeal decision related to gold mining in their locality.

bukit koman gold mining cyanide 010207 village In August last year, the Court of Appeal ruled that the residents cannot question the decision Department of Environment director-general (DG) in approving a preliminary environmental impact assessment (PEIA) report for a gold mine near their village that uses sodium cyanide to extract gold.

A three-man Federal Court bench comprising Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum, Abdul Hamid Embong and Ahmad Maarop today grant the residents leave to appeal this decision.

bukit koman mining site and wells 310107 In an immediate response, lawyer for the residents Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said this was only the first stage of the victory, but stressed that it was an important milestone.

"If the Federal Court did not grant us leave today, it will mean that we do not have a case any more. With this decision, the door is still open for us," Malik Imtiaz said.

He said the Federal Court would fix a date to hear the application for another leave sought by the residents to determine whether they should be given permission to start the judicial review.

However, Federal Court could also pass the matter back to High Court to decide whether to grant residents the leave.

Should leave be granted, the residents will be able to challenge the DG's granting of approval to Australia Mining Company to use cyanide to extract gold.

The Environment Department DG approved the PEIA report on Jan 13, 1997, and by a letter dated Feb 21, 2008, the DG rejected the residents' request for a review the of PEIA and for more details on the study.

Four representatives of the residents, Wong Kin Hoong, Chong Sow Pin, Hue Fui How and Mustapha Hussin, filed leave to initiate the judicial review of the residents' request on March 21, 2008.

NONE Chong and Mustapha have since died, making Wong and Hue the only two applicants left in this case.

The two appealed to the Court of Appeal after failing to obtain leave from the High Court on June 1, 2009, to file a judicial review to challenge the Environment DG's decision.

In their affidavit affirmed on May 12, 2009, the Wong and Huesaid that in early February 2009, they encountered strong and noxious fumes several times a day, causing them to choke, suffer giddiness, shortness of breath, irritation to the eyes and lungs, nausea and body rashes.