The moratorium on bauxite mining remains firmly in place in Pahang. So far so good. The ban, however, may not be being enforced locally to the degree it should be. Locals are reporting that some miners have been transporting bauxite ore illegally and surreptitiously, using back roads. They may also…
Bauxite mining has been banned in Pahang since January. The moratorium on all mining activities will stay in place until at least the end of the year – and possibly much longer. The damage, however, has already been done. Some local residents have been suffering from a variety of ailments,…
The moratorium on bauxite mining in Pahang has been extended again, for the third time, until the end of the year. The ban, which was scheduled to expire on September 14, has been extended by the federal government because local operators have still not managed to clear up existing stockpiles…
Malaysia is now the world’s top producer of bauxite. Go back just 18 months, and the country barely had a bauxite mining industry at all. The meteoric rise from zero to powerhouse producer of this necessary ingredient in aluminum production has come with fantastic environmental repercussions for Malaysia – problems that…
Despite the fact that they can both be said to exist, the bauxite industries in Australia and Malaysia couldn’t be more different. In fact, they are directly at odds – Australia’s highly regulated and deeply-entrenched bauxite mining sector is being undercut by Malaysia’s quick and cheap exports. Both countries are…
Malaysia’s recent boom of poorly-regulated bauxite mining has resulted in what could easily be considered an environmental disaster. Created during bauxite extraction, red dust laden with heavy metals and radioactive elements is washing into rivers, bogging up fields and blanketing cities with a rust-colored layer of fallen sediment. Already, doctors…
Residents of Bukit Goh, a city near Kuantan in Eastern Peninsular Malaysia, were given a jolt of excitement late last year when bauxite mining companies offered them between RM300,000 and RM800,000 (US$72,000 – $193,000) for every four hectares of their land that contained bauxite. After mulling it over, about 200…
After years of unregulated bauxite mining activity in the Malaysian state of Pahang, scientific surveys have proven without a doubt that the pollution worrying residents and causing them to fall ill is beyond acceptable levels. The findings – which will support public outcry for the regulation or scale-down of bauxite…