Patience is running out for the residents of Bukit Koman near the gold mining town of Raub as a mining company there continues to use cyanide to extract the mineral.


The villagers claim they've been afflicted by a range of ailments like skin irritation, headaches and breathing difficulties since February when the Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd (RAGM) began using the poison in its operations.
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The villagers have now presented 11 demands to the authorities as a means of dealing with their problems following a lack of a satisfactory response to their complaints, they said in a press release.


Topping the list is the proposal for a steering committee which should include Federal level authorities like the Department of Environment (DOE), Department of Minerals and Geoscience , Department of Occupational Safety and Health and the Health Department as well as RAGM and community representatives.


Another is formation of a working group comprising a group of technical experts to study the effects of the pollutions on the local environment.


The villagers represented by the Committee Against the Use of Cyanide in Bukit Koman Raub Gold Mine also demanded that they be updated on plans such as emergency response, rehabilitation and detoxification to ensure open communication among the parties involved.

Equipment removed after 6 days

In the press statement the villagers also complained that Department of Environment (DOE) had taken away equipment that monitored chemicals levels in early July six days after installation.

As a result , the committee claimed, the very next day the villagers were "once again exposed to noxious fumes".

NONEOn Tuesday, the residents had met with Pahang State EXCO for Local Government, Environment and Health, representatives of various state agencies and representatives of the mining company.

They claim that" at that meeting no one could explain why the monitoring equipment was left in the village for only six days, and why there are emissions which negatively affect the residents, or what these emissions are".

Raub MP, Ng Yen Yen had said earlier that she had met with the villagers there years back and that experts had assured her that the mine was safe.

Contrary to those claims, the committee maintained that their environment was being negatively affected.

"Why should our community live inf ear of what is in our environment?" said the statement, adding that for the sake of the villagers, the authorities should treat these demands as urgent.
Repeated attempts by malaysiakini to get a response from the company failed.