COMMENT Ten years down the road, Adnan Yaakob may be gone as menteri besar of Pahang, and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak may still remain in office, but the damage already done to the state of Pahang during their terms of office will remain a permanent scar for the state, especially when people’s health are affected.

While I am of the opinion that corruption has gotten us where we are today with the bauxite rush in Pahang ( see Part I ), will they be remembered for enriching a few local residents or be blamed for the thousands of residents whose health may be affected by the indiscriminate mining of bauxite?

Rehabilitation of the environment will not come cheap, and perhaps, billions of ringgit would have to be spent to clean up the rivers and the former bauxite mines.

Adnan, as the Menteri Besar, has the power on land and mining activities, and when he failed to act, at least Najib could have hauled him up for some explanations or reprimand, failing which, Najib could remove Adnan.

That is well within Najib’s purview, but despite one incident after another, and the people’s grievances, Adnan’s position as menteri besar remains untouchable.

It has taken two years since the bauxite rush started in January 2014 following Indonesia’s ban on exports of the mineral ore, before the three-month moratorium was finally arrived at and announced by Adnan and federal minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who is responsible for natural resources and the environment.

Why the delay, and why until the matter was raised in Parliament by Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh, when in the first place local residents complaining to the state government should have been addressed straight away at the state level.

Why was Adnan turning a deaf ear to their grievances despite Najib’s ‘People First’ policy? Thanks to Fuziah, as prior to that we did not even know or had heard about the blanket of red dust in Kuantan.

Long-term effects

Does Adnan realise that any form of degradation done to the environment through excessive logging or mining activities will have serious impact on the people’s health many years later, if they are not being carried out sustainably or following some proper procedures?

I wonder if Adnan and the current state government are unable to deal with the bauxite rush, how would they be able to pay enough attention to ensure that Lynas will not pose further health hazards to Pahang residents, especially when it involves radioactive materials.

Today, we may frown at Agent Orange which was used indiscriminately by the US army during the Vietnam War, and how it has scarred the lives of innocent babies who were affected. When I visited orphanages in Vietnam in the early 90s, it was sad to see the deformation of babies who were affected by the chemical.

Twenty years down the road, we will never know what may affect the children of Pahang as a result of the contamination caused by the unregulated mining of bauxite ore. If mining can be done in a residential area, giving Pak Ahmad, Ah Chong or Muthusamy a windfall, there has to be something wrong with the way we manage our mining activities, especially when it affects other residents in the community.

Can we please open our eyes and start showing some respect to the environment we live in? We cannot afford to turn Kuantan into another ‘disaster place’ where no domestic tourists would even think of visiting, especially since the city is now covered with red dust all over and its water is turning red as well.

Honestly, I wonder if there is any conscience left in our Barisan Nasional administrators at the state level or as someone said, are they preparing for their exit soon, trying to reap whatever they can, while the opportunity is still there!

We have to keep reminding our state administrators, including those from the Pakatan governments, that their actions will leave a permanent scar to the country’s environment and rehabilitation would be extremely costly as a result of their actions, or lack of actions.

Yesterday Part I: Can we still afford corruption at the state-level?

Tomorrow Part III: Where is the conscience?

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.