Landowners should be responsible to fill up disused bauxite mines

Legal practitioner Datuk Syed Azimal Amir Syed Abu Bakar said the refusal or failure of the landlord to do so could hold them responsible if any untoward incidents occurred at the mines.

This includes the incident in which three children, namely, Nureen Ain Juwita Mohd Sharif, 10, and two siblings, Salsabila Zuhairi, 12, and Mahathir Mohamad, 7, drowned in the bauxite mine in Taman Sungai Karang Jaya here recently, he said.

"A water pool is always of interest to children, and if they trespass (and something happens to them), then the land owner is responsible if proper precautions are not taken.

"It has been stated in the case of Rylands v Fletcher, among others, that in the case of children who wander onto a property without authorisation, property owners do have a duty to ensure that their property is safe."

"The logic behind this exception is that children are sometimes naive to dangers on the property, and could in fact be lured to dangerous conditions such as a swimming pool, an abandoned well, or heavy machinery," he told Bernama here today.

Syed Azimal said this when asked to comment on the implementation of the order issued twice by the Regent of Pahang Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, saying abandoned bauxite mines, especially near populated areas should be covered up so that similar incidents do not recur.

Beserah assemblyman Andansura Rabu had previously reported that there were at least five bauxite mines at risk of being 'death traps' in residential areas and traditional villages around Beserah.

Syed Azimal said the government had also stated that the mining activities took place on private land, and land owners should apply for a license under Section 17 of the Mineral Enactment 2001 (Pahang).

"Under Section 18 of the enactment, the director may approve (the application). However, there was no application, meaning no approval was given, and it was not bound by conditions set by the authorities.

"This reinforces the argument that the land owners who run the illegal mining activities should be accountable to those around them for negligence," he said.

However, Syed Azimal said the authorities may also be held accountable for the mining issue if they did not take proper measures to curb illegal mining.

"Failure to take action against illegal miners is negligence on the part of the authorities, as they can take action against landowners who carry out exploration or mining illegally.

"For example, in this case, the PTG (Department of Land and Mines) should have done inspections, issued a notice to the landlord or operator of the mine, and can take action to seize the illegal mine," he said.

Hence, Syed Azimal believed it was inappropriate if the blame was fully placed on the shoulders of the state government, as the mining activities did not take place on government land.

Meanwhile, the People's Movement to Stop Bauxite Pollution (Geram) chairman Ali Akbar Othman requested the authorities to be more aggressive in tracking down the owners of the mining land as well as other illegal mines so that Tengku Abdullah's order could be implemented immediately.

He said, as of yesterday, no responsible party had come forward to fill up the disused bauxite mines around Kuantan including in Taman Sungai Karang, prompting residents to take their own initiative to remove the stagnant water by making temporary drains.

"The owners of the land must have grants. So it should be known who owns the land. I don't know how many times I have expressed disappointment because no one respects the order of the Regent (Tengku Abdullah).

"(They) have now washed their hands off, yet when they were getting money, activities were going on, they were busy making claims over the mines... but now, when an incident like this occurs, all are silent and do not come forward. It's just like passing the buck," he said.

Ali Akbar also hoped that the moratorium period set to expire on March 31 would be further extended until miners actually complied with the regulations, guaranteeing safety, and not affecting the lives of the locals.

He said the state government should also be more assertive in this matter and issue a standard operating procedure (SOP) specially for bauxite mining, as advocated by Geram since the activities began in Pahang.

"The SOP should be made known to the public so that we can also monitor. If any (SOPs) are not complied with, at least we know, and can then make a complaint to the authorities.

"We can't depend on the authorities alone, as they may have staff or other constraints. I myself am not able to check all the bauxite mines in Kuantan.