BAUXITE operators in Pahang want to know when Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar will issue standard operating procedures (SOPs), so they can start mining.

The operators claim they have been losing money since a moratorium was passed last year to stop them from mining.

The moratorium was lifted on March 31 but Xavier had said operators could only begin mining if they stuck to ministry approved SOPs.

However, Pahang Mining Operators Association vice-president Yap Soon Huat said he was informed by the ministry that the SOPs had not been completed yet.

“We haven’t received any SOPs from them (the ministry). We still have no information.

“We are frustrated with the delay because we are suffering losses. We still have a lot of stock on site.

“We have also rentals to pay and we don’t know how much longer we will have to wait. Is it going to be two months or two years?” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Previously, Xavier had said that mining could only proceed after the administrative procedure of withdrawing stop-work orders on bauxite mining issued in January was completed.

He also said the government can only decide on resumption of mining when all operators abide by the SOPs issued by his ministry.

Yap said there could be more than 10 licensed operators waiting for the SOPs.

“Those who are legal have the mining list (ML) and proprietor mining list (PML) issued by the state.

“The PML is issued to private sector companies that own the land, while ML means the land belongs to the state.”

He said these operators cannot carry out work because they don’t have the SOPs, so they are now stuck.

“We have asked the ministry many times for the SOPs, but they said it is still in the process.

“We called them last week and they said the same thing.

“As the SOPs are not ready, the Land and Mines office can’t process our application. Even they don’t know what the SOPs will contain,” he said.

Yap said they had a public hearing with all stakeholders in April and the ministry said the SOP would be ready in two months, but that deadline had long since passed with no progress.

“We have no issues adhering to the SOPs, but they also should look into enforcement (illegal mining).

“There is no point constantly amending the SOPs when there is lack of enforcement,” he said.

Pahang Mining Industry Association treasurer Teh Teck Tee said the association had yet to receive anything from the ministry and similarly had been kept waiting since April.

“We have been waiting patiently, but still no news on the SOPs.

“We thought that they might inform the Land and Mines office, but they also don’t know anything. We don’t know if it is complete,” he said.

Teh said operators are suffering heavy losses.

“We have all our papers in order such as ML and PML, but we still can’t operate.

“We are exhausted and hope to get the SOPs soon,” he said.

The Malaysian Insight has contacted the ministry but has yet to receive a reply. – August 1, 2019.