GEORGE TOWN: Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) has urged the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry to ensure that the Kedah government does not approve the mining of non-radioactive rare earth element (NR-REE) mineral resources in the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve in the district of Sik, Kedah.
According to SAM president Meenakshi Raman, although Article 74 (2) of the Federal Constitution read together with List II in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution provides that forests are under the jurisdiction of the state government, the federal government can advise the state government that all policies, rulings and commitments related to forests decided at the federal level are applied at the state level.
She said the ministry's statement published on March 22, that the Kedah government had done nothing wrong and had the right to approve the exploration of NR-REE mineral resources in the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve, was of concern to SAM.
She added that according to Section 2 of the National Forestry Act (Adoption) Enactment 1985 and the same section of the National Forestry Act 1984 (Act 313), as well as the decision made in the Special Task Force Meeting to Study the Effects of Lanthanum Production in Permanent Reserved Forests on Forest Stands No. 1/2020 on Sept 2 and 3, 2020, it was confirmed that REE mineral resources were not included in the interpretation of forest products.
"Therefore, it is clear that if the state government intends to approve REE mineral resource mining activities at the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve, it will be an offence, in addition to not being in line with the minister's statement on March 22 regarding one of Malaysia's commitments to managing forests sustainably, which is not to issue 'Operational Mining Scheme' (OMS) for the purpose of mining activities in Permanent Reserved Forests (PRFs), Protected Areas and Environmentally Sensitive Areas.
"SAM also reiterates that the state must heed the decision by the National Land Council (NLC) during the 70th NLC Meeting in 2014 for all states government to take the initiative to control or as far as possible avoid the approval of mining and quarrying activities in PRFs," she said today.
Meenakshi said mining and quarrying activities in PRFs would disrupt the forest biodiversity and its functions and would affect Malaysia's achievement of sustainable forest management, which is the core of our national forest management.
"SAM hopes that the minister and the ministry will advise the state government not to approve the mining of NR-REE mineral resources at the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve.
Last month, Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad had said that there was no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports issued for REE mining activities in Kedah.
He said the Kedah government has yet to submit any EIA report on the activities to the Department of Environment (DoE).
Nik Nazmi had said this in response to a question from Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari (PH - Sungai Petani), who asked the minister if the Kedah government had applied for an EIA for REE activities in the state.
This came about following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Menteri Besar Kedah Inc (MBI Kedah) and Jangka Bakat Minerals Sdn Bhd as well as Xiamen Tungsten Co. Ltd over REE mining.
In February, Berita Harian had reported that illegal REE mining activities had been detected at the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve in Sik, Kedah.