Kuala Terengganu MP Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah has warned Terengganu Menteri Besar, Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman, against downplaying his link to a Li Yang, featured recently in a New York Times (NYT) article alleging an iron ore mine in the state was plagued by corrupt deals and environmental concerns.
Li Yang heads a local unit of China-based CAA Resources which runs the mine. He’s listed in the Companies Commission of Malaysia databank as a director of Capture Bukit Besi Sdn Bhd.
“The Menteri Besar has a lot to answer,” said Raja Kamarul who urged the Terengganu Government to investigate the NYT report. “State Government officials made frequent trips to China.”
One result of these trips is that Eastern Steel from China does its iron mining and processing, an environmental no no, in Terengganu. Some of their personnel in Terengganu resigned recently over unsatisfactory waste management practices at their plant, Raja Kamarul added.
“Due to high pollution levels in China, they are setting up plants elsewhere,” he said. “China is a big importer of iron.”
“Even Australia and Brazil, two of the biggest exporters of iron in the world, don’t allow in-situ processing due to environmental concerns.”
Terengganu, he stressed, should not allow these processing plants as they pollute the rivers and create other environmental concerns in the long-run.-FMT
