KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — A review panel under the National Mineral Council could be established to address the fragmented jurisdiction and inconsistent enforcement between federal and state authorities, hindering effective oversight of rare earth element (REE) projects.
This was among policy recommendations outlined by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia in its latest policy brief titled “From Mine to Magnet”.
The think tank said the review panel could be established with a mandate to review the REE proposal at the pre-development stage, before the environmental impact assessment and operational mining scheme application processes, as well as to resolve disputes in policy implementation.
“For this review panel to work, we need to align federal and state-level bodies in terms of mineral projects, as well as their reviews. Key to mining is the ESG aspect,” ISIS analyst for economics, trade and regional integration Qarrem Kassim told Bernama.
Qarrem is one of three researchers who produced the policy brief, the others being Zayana Zaikariah and Farhad Ijlal Nizam.
Qarrem said the mechanism should function as an integrated review panel, similar to Canada’s joint review panel for projects that fall under both federal and provincial jurisdiction.
Complementing this, state-level participation in joint-enforcement task forces should be formalised.
Several states have a strong current interest in rare earth mining, largely because Malaysia, at least globally, is one of the few places in the world with viable economic RE resources and strong heavy RE potential.
“Without heavy rare earths, we would not be able to meet the zero-carbon targets. Therefore, we need to really look at this issue at the state coordination level and the issues that the state has with the federal; we need to hash it out, and to coordinate an effective response,” Qarrem said.
