Too many quarries in Perak?

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Too many quarries in Perak?

Extracted from The Star, 11^th April 2000

Among the states, Perak has the most number of quarries. In 1998, it had 67 active quarries, while Johor was a distant second with 46. Perlis and Malacca have the least, six each.

Has Perak been too liberal in issuing quarrying licenses? Or could it be that that there are too many small-time operations? Industry players have expressed these concerns.

Some industry watchers suggest that the situation in the Kinta Valley smacks of political patronage; others say that it probably has something to do with the need to “distribute” the wealth of the state more evenly.

Whatever the reasons, having too many small operators can be a problem. A senior manager (who prefers to remain anonymous) in a large quarrying operation alleges that having too many small operators is actually environmentally undesirable.

“Some of them operate on less than 4ha, so how are they going to institute mitigation measures?”

He also feels that small, underfunded operations tend to do things in the “cheapest” possible manner: “There is a tendency to cut corners and to compromise on safety, and so on. That is human nature.

“Of course, saying this opens us (big players) up to the accusation that we want to corner everything for ourselves.”

It is true that it is the larger operations that have the capital to come up with effective mitigation measures and efficient equipment. For example, the modern drill with a dust bag to trap dust while drilling is expensive, something only the big companies can afford.

And it is true that the big boys tend to be more forward-looking, instead of focusing on short-term gains. “We started using the benching system before the authorities made it a requirement,” said Haji Mohd Adnan Mahmood, general manager of G.B. Kuari in Perak.

He also claims that the “big boys” tend to be more forward-thinking: “We started using the benching system before the authorities made it a requirement.” (The system produces less dust, noise and vibration when blasting.)

Perak Mines Department director Abdul Rahman Mohd Rafek agrees that some of the smaller quarries have problems meeting some environmental regulations: “Most quarries (in Perak) operate on very small land areas, so they cannot do much,” he says.

However, Edmund Koh, vice chairman of Malaysia Quarries Associations, sees the situation a little differently.

“When they say small, I don’t now how to define small. The scenario in Ipoh is different from the rest of the country.”

He explains that quarries in the Kinta Valley specialise, hence their size. “You cannot expect a quarry in a cement plant to also produce hydrated lime – a small downstream activity – for the mass market.”

Big or small, authorities, such as the Department of Environment, are hopefully keeping a close eye on the situation in the Kinta Valley and monitoring environmental consequences.

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