The welfare and safety of residents in face of rampant bauxite mining in the areas surrounding Kuantan is a serious matter and raising the issue is not “politicising” it, Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh told cabinet minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

Fauziah pointed this out in responding to Rahman, who urged her to stop politicising the issue and to convince her constituents to be patient to allow the government to identify the illegal miners and lorry drivers.

Fuziah said the people of Kuantan had welcomed Rahman's announcement that the government would clean up the area, which is now enveloped in red dust as a result of the bauxite mining.

“However, when he starts showing his ‘brand’ of Umno politics by thinking that everything can be spun and politicised, that really leaves a bad taste in the mouth,” she told Malaysiakini .

Fauziah said the campaign against bauxite mining in the Kuantan area has been bipartisan because it is about the welfare of the people.

As such, the minister should emulate the grassroots campaigners and “show some statesmanship”.

“Steer away from your Umno understanding of politics. Have some feelings and compassion for us here in Kuantan,” she said.

The three-month bauxite mining moratorium commenced on Jan 15 with Fire and Rescue Department personnel deployed to do clean-up work.

However, the Pahang government said it has yet to nab the illegal miners because they operate at night and were able to evade enforcement officers.

While the Pahang government has approved state lands to be mined for bauxite-rich soil, local residents, too, have let their lands to be dug up for similar purposes after runners promised them lucrative returns.

This resulted in dozens of illegal mines that are flouting environmental standards, with waterways taking on a reddish hue.

KINIGUIDE to Kuantan’s bauxite madness

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