The Pahang government has been urged to issue bauxite mining licences to 32 contractors who have made deals with settlers of Felda Bukit Goh to carry out mining on their land.

Bukit Goh Bauxite Coordinating Committee chairman Abd Wahid Abd Manaf said problems would arise for settlers who had signed agreements with contractors to mine bauxite on their plantations.

“Generally, the settlers have felled their oil palm trees and dug up their plantation (to facilitate bauxite mining). “If it is stopped and licences are not issued, their source of income will be badly curtailed,” he said.

He told this to reporters after holding a closed-door dialogue with bauxite entrepreneurs and settlers of Felda Bukit Goh at the Felda Bukit Goh Community Hall here Saturday.