KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): An environmental group has casted doubts on whether the Pahang authorities would meet the terms of the ongoing bauxite moratorium to tackle pollution caused by rampant mining in the state for over a year.

National Treasures Protection Society (Peka) Pahang chapter president Khaidir Ahmad said the government should consider extending the moratorium for another three months, following the failure of Kuantan port authorities to meet the phase one dateline, which ended on Feb 15. The moratorium began on Jan 15.

The first month of the moratorium should see all stockpiles cleared from the port, which had been the main cause of sea pollution, where the waters off Kuantan turned red.

"The first phase of moratorium is to clear all the stockpiles at the port area, but they have only cleared half of it," Khaidir told The Malaysian Insider.

"That’s why we have no confidence that they will meet the target for the second phase.

"If they cannot meet the dateline, they will have to extend (the moratorium) for another three months. But we will see what the minister says when he makes an assessment on the ground,” Khaidir told The Malaysian Insider.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Wan Jaafar is expected to meet Kuantan officials on Friday for an update on efforts to clean up the mess left by bauxite mining activities.

Villagers in Kuantan area where mining had been carried out last year, have complained of air pollution and dangers posed by lorries transporting bauxite to the ports at all hours of the day.

Peka is part of the Coalition for Action Against Bauxite Pollution led by Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh, who had tried to get the matter raised in Parliament.

Khaidir said he could see that the authorities were trying to clear the stockpiles at the port, but added that they did not seem "very serious" about it.

"They are supposed to clear everything but now they only clear about 50% and if you go to the port area, there is still mess at the port,” he said.

Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh, meanwhile, said the target in the second phase of the moratorium which runs from Feb 15 till March 15 was to clear stockpiles that were outside of the port.

The third and last phase, from March 15 to April 15, was to put all bauxite in a centralised area, Fuziah said.

“The central stockpile should be identified by PTG, but it’s not done yet. One way to clear the stockpile is by sending it to China,” she said.

She said there were still over two million tonnes of bauxite at the port as of Feb15, the deadline of the first phase.

The Kuantan Port Consortium (KPC), she added, was responsible for clearing stockpiles in the port while stockpiles outside of the port was under state’s Land and Mines department (PTG).

She said the moratorium period was not only about meeting the datelines, but to do things properly.

“For example, now that they have to clear the stockpiles from outside the port, will the process (of transportation) continue to contaminate (the environment)?

“The roads have already been cleaned, what are the procedures to follow?

"Will the transport owners follow whatever regulations if there are any?” she said adding a request for a permanent and central site to be assessed by Detailed Environment Impact Assessment (DEIA).