Kuantan is a very beautiful place, but now...

   Hello everybody! Have you ever heard Kuantan this place in Malaysia? Kuantan is the capital city of the Pahang State in Malaysia. It is also the largest city in Pahang state. It has lots of beautiful beaches such as in Teluk Cempedak, Cherating and so on… Besides, it also has a lucrative of minerals resources (in the Pahang state) especially the rare earth, bauxite, tin, gold… Wait a minute, have you read the news regarding the environmental issues that caused by mining activity at that place?

  There are a few of mining activities in Kuantan that raising people to against it. Here are 2 examples from the mining activities:

Lynas opened Lynas Advance Materials Power Plant (LAMP) in Gebeng, Kuantan, Pahang in April 2011 

Back in April 2011, Lynas (An Australian mining company) opened LAMP in Gebeng, Kuantan. They came over because here had rare earth for their power plant and the costs were cheaper compared to their own country. Moreover, Malaysian government later also granted the company ‘pioneer’ status and offered them 12-year tax exemption so that it could operate in Malaysia. However, many people began to against Lynas setting up rare earth power plant in Kuantan especially those lived nearby there. This is due to the reason that they concerned the rare earth power plant will bring many side effects to their health (rare earth are hazardous) . The Kuantan MP, Fuziah Salleh also expressed her concerned on the parliament as well. Later, the group of Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas (SMSL) which formed by many kuantan community groups began to protest against the Lynas and Lamp. Wong Tack, leader of SMSL held the ‘Himpunan Hijau’ to stop Lynas from operating rare earth power plant in Malaysia.

The power plant when under constucting

The banner of Lynas

 Also you can go and watch Namewee's Youtube about lynas (Namewee Fuck Lynas - Good Day to Die)
Here's the link
https://youtu.be/rLn3BLWw9B8


   Recently, I read a news from newspaper that bauxite mining activities in Felda Bukit Goh, Kuantan caused the nearby city to be like in “Mars”.

Bauxite mining activities in Felda Bukit Goh, Kuantan, Pahang

Kuantan recently has become the hub of mineral resources (this time is Bauxite) for the mining company. The bauxite mining activity increased in the state as the demand from China increased after Indonesia banning exportation of bauxite in early 2014. This made Malaysia to be biggest exporter of bauxite to China. China are demanding for bauxite because the bauxite is the raw material of Aluminum in producing air craft body frame, vehicle body frame as well as ship. However, the environmental problem arose when the bauxite dust wash into river then to the sea when there is heavy rain. This make many beautiful beaches are polluted. For instance, Pantai Batu Hitam (a beach somewhere in Kuantan) was polluted because the seaside are turning into crimson color (perhaps it is caused by bauxite dust?) This totally causing tourists ‘running away’ from the seaside and the hotel owners there are losing profit.

Since the rivers are full of bauxite dust, the river water is contaminated. The aquatic animals also die because of the contaminated water. So, the Health Minister, Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam told the people do not drink the water from the polluted rivers even though it is boiled and do not consume the fishes from the rivers as well. This is because the heavy metals in the water are danger to the human health (in long term may cause Alzheimer’s diease.). Besides, the Enviroment and Natural Resources Minister, Datuk seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, has called for the 3 month of moratorium for the Mining Companies (starting from 15^th January) in order for them to clean up the polluted sites. He also called the mining companies to clear out the bauxite stockpiles in the Kuantan Port within 7 day.

People protesting against the mining activities

The road in Kuantan becoming red like in Mars haha...

 

Pantai Batu Hitam turning red

The view of the seaside where nearby the Kuantan Port...

As you can see everyday the lorry go in and out from the mining sites has caused the road to be in crimson color...

   In a conclusion, I think the government should think twice regarding the pros and cons of the mining or development activities in Malaysia. Yup, the mining and development is good for our country and making us money as well as job opportunity, but do you think about the side effects? It is too late for us to respond towards the issue after the environment is polluted and people’s health is devastated. So, we must preserve the environment when developing or mining in order to give assurance for the people’s health

   Ok, that's all I want to talk about, hope you enjoy this article and please follow me on my Google + account, twitter (@JiaZhe1) and facebook (username: Jia Zhe Wong)... Thank you, bye!