MACC SUGGESTS STATES TO HAVE SOP FOR REE MINING

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has proposed that the state governments establish standard operating procedures (SOP) for the mining of rare earth elements (REE).

MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the proposal resulted from an MACC investigation into Rare Earth Elements (REE), which revealed the absence of a SOP for mineral extraction.

This lack of guidelines or SOP  could lead to misappropriation and illegal mining activities, he said.

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"This SOP is important because without it everyone can mine and that is stealing. So there needs to be an SOP and possibly involve an environmental impact assessment (EIA)," he told reporters after the Agency Governance Improvement Programme at the MACC Headquarters here today.

On the role of the state and federal Governments in setting up the SOP for REE mining, Azam said the federal government has its approval procedure, while the minerals belong to the state.

"But in the mining of REE, it will involve,  for example, taxation, customs and these matters need to be discussed together," he said.

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Earlier, in his speech, Azam said that weaknesses in monitoring and the absence of SOPs related to enforcement regarding REE were the causes of the misappropriation of rare earth resources, as happened last year.

Hence, he said, organisations need to review and improve existing practices, systems, and procedures to close gaps that may lead to corruption.

At the event, the Malaysian Polytechnic Sports Council and the Kedah Land and Mines Office were announced as this year's recipients of the APTA award.

APTA is a special recognition given to public and private agencies that have taken proactive steps to implement all governance improvement recommendations by the Governance Investigation Division (BPT) and the State Governance Investigation Unit (UPT) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as provided under Section 7(e) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 [Act 694].

-- BERNAMA