Bauxite mining - a sorry reflection on the state of M'sia

COMMENT The issue of bauxite mining in Pahang has caught the attention of the public lately due to the recurrence of related news in the media. The public are naturally outraged that environmental disasters are once again rearing their ugly head.

It would seem that natural resources and mineral-rich states such as Pahang are susceptible to environmental tragedies - because of the greed of the operators. To be fair, this greed is in turn conditioned by the insatiable demand fuelled by the (then) increase in domestic production - which includes materials for the construction sector - in China, as the country shifts gear towards a more consumption-driven economy.

According to data obtained by Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh, some 15 million tonnes of bauxite ore are exported from the Kuantan Port to China every month. A Singapore environmental risk analysis that was reported in the Huffington Post , pointed out that Malaysia accounted for 40 percent of China’s 49 million imports in 2015 - which represents a staggering jump of 700 percent, as compared to 2014!