Bauxite Ban Lifted: 3.5 million tonnes a month being exported at peak

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02:52

Now to Southeast Asia. Malaysia has announced it will lift a nearly three-year ban on the mining and export of bauxite ore, used for the production of aluminum. The government shut down the industry after complaints that the unregulated mining and transport of millions of tonnes of the red ore was harming people's health and the environment. Rian Maelzer reports from Malaysia's east coast.

As miners cleared palm oil plantations to extract the red, bauxite-laden soil underneath, people likened the area to the surface of Mars.

Thousands of trucks carting the dirt to the port each day spewed up huge quantities of red dust. Run-off polluted rivers, even turning the sea red at one point.

FUZIAH SALLEH RULING PARTY MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT "It was like an environmental disaster. Children were getting sick, we had children suffering from skin diseases, children with asthma were having breathing difficulties. We had a total of four children who died in the abandoned ponds. Everything in the name of money and profits and greed and it was such a disaster."

RIAN MAELZER PAHANG, MALAYSIA "When Indonesia banned the export of raw bauxite ore in 2014, the industry exploded here in Malaysia, especially in this area on the country's east coast."

At its peak, this port handled 3.5 million tonnes of bauxite a month, most headed to China's aluminum industry.

Then in 2016, Malaysia's federal government imposed a moratorium on bauxite mining and export to the huge relief of people like this man whose business is next to a busy road.

SUHAIZAM ABDUL AZIZ MOTORCYCLE MECHANIC "From my experience, we were suffering so badly from the bauxite dust. No one was enforcing the rules. My spare parts were destroyed. My business dropped to zero. Because of 44 villagers who sold the bauxite from their land, thousands of people ended up suffering."

Dozens of palm oil smallholders allowed miners to dig up their land, and many profited greatly from it.

MOHAMED MUDA VILLAGE LEADER, BUKIT GOH, MALAYSIA "I support resuming the mining. These projects bring profit and will help lift up the economic situation of the people in the village. We support it."

SUHAIZAM ABDUL AZIZ MOTORCYCLE MECHANIC "If they restart up the bauxite mining, yes, I'm scared. I'm scared the problems will happen all over again."

Area MP Fuziah Salleh says she shares those concerns, despite her government's assurances that the industry must agree to and abide by strict guidelines this time. Rian Maelzer, CGTN, Pahang, Malaysia.