State govt urged to involve settlers for effective SOP in bauxite mining

The Bukit Goh Bauxite Problems Coordination Committee are hoping the state government will get the involvement of its committee members to find an effective standard operating procedure (SOP) to combat the issue of bauxite mining in Pahang.

Its chairman Datuk Dr Abdul Wahid Manap said the state government should call the committee if there was a meeting to discuss improvements to the current SOP so that ideas could be shared between settlers and the state government.

"This is because in this committee itself, we have settlers who have land used for bauxite activities and are facing various problems with bauxite operators who do not comply with regulations and SOP. As such we could help identify the best solutions in the bauxite issue," he told reporters at a peaceful assembly to show support to Pahang Menteri Besar in tackling the bauxite issue at Bukit Goh Felda, on Wednesday.

Commenting further, Abdul Wahid alleged there were rogue operators who stole bauxite from agricultural areas, bauxite stockpiles and random land sites, merely to reap profits while ignoring the issue of safety and dust on the roads.

"They would enter with lorries at 3am or 4am when nobody is around," he said.

He said there are 33 bauxite operators in Bukit Goh Felda and from the total only seven operators were cooperating with the committee.

In this regard, he said the committee should be given the opportunity to be involved in seeking solutions as the committee has several suggestions to help enhance the existing SOP.

"Among our proposals is the pledge between bauxite operators and the state government as currently the pledge is only between the settlers and bauxite operators.

"So when a violation of regulation or SOP occurred, only the settler is fined under Section 158 of the Mineral Enactment 2001 which could amount to RM500,000, so how will the settler find this amount of money," he said.

In this regard, Abdul Wahid hoped bauxite mining activities would not be stopped as it is a source of income for settlers.

"Currently in Bukit Goh Felda, there are 671 settlers with 248 of them involved in bauxite mining," he said.