KUANTAN (Jan 25): Loss of income from the moratorium on bauxite mining in Kuantan and the irreversible effects of pollution on the land are just some of the problems facing Felda oil palm settlers now.

The short-term windfall after opening their land to miners has come to a halt with the three-month suspension that took effect on January 15, and there is little prospect that their land can be rehabilitated for agricultural use again, according to an environmental engineer.

National Felda Settlers’ Children’s Association (ANAK) president Mazlan Aliman said the moratorium, imposed after nearly a year of outcry from Kuantan residents against bauxite pollution, ended an alternative source of income for some Felda settlers.

“They will not be able to earn that much if they continue to depend on the sale of oil palm, given the collapse of international commodity prices,” he said.

Those affected are in the Felda Bukit Goh and Bukit Sagu areas.

Felda Goh has 670 settlers with erratic income prior to bauxite mining as they only depended on oil palm revenue, according to him.

By allowing mining on their land, they were able to earn RM7 per tonne of earth.

Mazlan was unsure about their incomes when the land was mined.

“I’m not sure whether they would be affected but I’m sure those involved would have gotten a deposit for the bauxite mining so that might be of some help.”

While not all Felda settlers in the Kuantan area are affected, those who allowed mining will face difficulty trying to convert their land back to planting, says environmental engineer Dr Faradiella Kusin.

She said agricultural activities could no longer be continued on mining sites even after the area was cleaned up because of residual toxins which could impact on plant genetics.

“The pollution can affect plants whether it is the land that is polluted, or by leachate,” Faradiella said.

While cleaning work during the current moratorium is important to minimise environmental pollution, it will not be enough since rampant mining has already been taking place for more than a year.

Bauxite mining in Kuantan started in early 2013 and its output increased exponentially in mid-2014 because of demand from China. The mineral is a main component in aluminium production.

“The three-month suspension is not enough given the pollution already in place.

“The recovery process will take a long time,” said Faradiella, who is also a senior lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

She said the effects of soil pollution could last decades and the mining site would still be a source of pollution even after activities ceased.

Such effects have been widely documented for decades in international journals, she added, citing the case of a bauxite spill in Hungary which took two to three years for the environment to recover even though actual bauxite exposure was brief.

“Our situation is much worse as the pollution was over one year, so the recovery will take even longer and there could be lasting effects.”

According to Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Adnan Yaakob, the state earned RM46.7 million in 2015 compared with RM24.4 million the previous year from bauxite mining in Kuantan.

Mazlan, asked if the settlers could have violated any terms of their land agreement, said the issue should not arise as the settlers did not hand over their land completely to the miners.

“The status of settlers is maintained under the Group Settlement Act, as their status is listed in the agreement and their ownership grant. There is no change unless there is an application to develop (the land).”

But the New Straits Times this month reported that all bauxite mines in Bukit Goh were illegal and that Felda settlers there may be in danger of violating the National Land Code.

Pahang Department of Land and Mines director Datuk Nazri Abu Bakar was quoted as saying that Felda settlers have the right to their land under the Group Settlement Act but might have also flouted the code as their land was only designated as plantations and agriculture use, not mining.