Bauxite mining bribery: Two Pahang PTG officers to be charged tomorrow

Two officers from the Pahang Land and Mines Office (PTG) will be charged at the Sessions Court here tomorrow over bribery related to bauxite mining in the state.

A Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) spokesman said they would be charged under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009 which is punishable under Section 24 of the same act.

It provides for fine up RM10,000 or five times the corrupt amount, whichever is higher, and jail up to 20 years, if convicted.

The MACC has so far arrested six Pahang PTG officers, including a senior officer, in connection with alleged corruption concerning bauxite mining in the state, with the arrests made from Jan 6 until yesterday (Jan 11).

MACC Investigations Division director Datuk Azam Baki had said the suspects were believed to be involved in the sale of the department's Form 13D to individuals involved in mining bauxite illegally.

The forms which are dockets for moving the ore cost only RM1 each but were being sold at between RM150 and RM200 each.

MACC also arrested three members of the public including a woman who were believed to be acting as middlemen in bribing PTD officers to protect the illegal miners.

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry is imposing a three-month moratarium on bauxite mining in Pahang from Jan 15 following the severe pollution it is causing in the state due to a lack of standard operating procedures right from the mining process up to the point of export from Kuantan Port.

Residents in Kuantan and the surrounding areas have complained that the environment including rivers in the area and the sea off the coast of Kuantan had turned "red" due to bauxite dust and feared for their health.

The ministry also said that the morotarium will be extended if the pollution problems were not rectified.