Perceptions of residents in Felda Bukit Goh, Kuantan on the environmental impact of bauxite mining

Abstract

Nowadays, mining is important and a source of income especially for a country rich in mineral resources. Increasing demand from domestic and international industrial sectors has increased the production of mineral resources such as bauxite. The high market price and demand of bauxite in various sectors have been benefitial for Malaysia. However, in the pursuit of profit, a lot of negative factors such as environmental pollution has affected the local community. Therefore, this issue should be taken seriously by the authorities and contractors to ensure that the community live in harmony and comfort. A study was conducted to determine the extent of public awareness about environmental pollution from bauxite mining. The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of community on bauxite mining impacts. A total of 100 respondents were selected by systematic random sampling technique for questionnaire survey to obtain information about the impacts of environmental pollution. The results were analyzed through SPSS data using descriptive statistics. Almost 90% of respondents give feedback that bauxite mining adverse impact on them. Dust pollution is the highest with 34% followed by 30% of solid waste pollution, water pollution by 21% and 15% of noise pollution. Therefore, residents agreed that bauxite mining cause bad impact than good.