Bukit Koman folk stage protest

Tuesday February 13, 2007 - The Star By SIMON KHOO

RAUB: A group of residents in Bukit Koman renewed their protest against the move by a local joint-venture company to extract gold from the mines here using cyanide.

The group comprising about 70 residents staged a protest outside the company here recently.

The spokesman for the group Wong Kin Hoong said some 3,000 residents in Bukit Koman would be directly affected as their houses were located about 300m from the mining site.

He said in June last year, they had held several discussions with Raub MP Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen and Teras assemblyman Datuk Chan Chong Fah.

One voice: Residents staging a demonstration against using cyanide in gold mining activities in Bukit Koman recently.

“We hope the matter will not be swept under the carpet as our health is at stake.

“All in, over 50,000 people residing in Raub district will be at risk if the firm extracts gold using cyanide,” he said.

Cyanide is an extremely harmful chemical substance and may result in premature death.

Those exposed to the chemical may develop headache, nausea, dyspnoea (breathing difficulty), confusion, seizures, coma and cardiovascular collapse.

Wong said based on information he received, the company had been given approval
to use the substance by the state Environment Department (DOE).

“If this information is correct, we hope the DOE will consider retracting the approval for the sake of the people.

Wong said several studies also revealed the wide usage of cyanide had caused considerable damage to the health of the people in Canada, Romania, Guyana, Kyrgyzstan and Papua New Guinea.

He urged the authorities to conduct a new Environment Impact Assessment on the viability of the project and its mining activities.

“Let us stress that we are not against gold mining activities if it is being conducted using conventional methods.

“The old method is not harmful to humans and the environment but will bring out about 20% of yields as compared to some 80% using cyanide,” he elaborated.

Raub is synonymous with gold mining activities and has a history dating back some 200 years.

The company in question, Raub Australia Gold Mining Sdn Bhd, started operations in the 1890s and ceased work in 1960.

However, in the 1980s, the firm resumed its operations after making a substantial investment.

The firm’s top management could not be reached for comment.