Sam Urges Caution As Rm10m Allocated For Rare Earth Mapping

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An environmental group has voiced caution over the government’s move to allocate RM10 million under Budget 2026 to continue mapping out rare earth in the country.
In a statement today, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) said the activity should “totally exclude” environmentally sensitive areas and the territories of indigenous peoples.
In tabling Budget 2026 in the Dewan Rakyat earlier, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the mapping will focus on developing downstream industries, including through international partnerships spearheaded by Khazanah.
SAM also welcomed Anwar’s assurance that the government will table amendments to the Aboriginal Peoples’ Act 1954 to strengthen Orang Asli’s rights and interests in relation to land and welfare matters.
ADSHowever, it urged for proper and meaningful consultations with Orang Asli communities and relevant stakeholders to ensure that the customary rights of Orang Asli are genuinely protected and respected.
The government’s approach to reforming indigenous legislation previously came under fire, with Parti Orang Asli president Rashid Ka’ criticising what he saw as inadequate representation of his community in discussions about amending the Act.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi earlier announced that amendments are aimed at improving the Act, which has not undergone any substantive changes since it was first enacted over 70 years ago.
The rural and regional development minister also said a bill on amending the Act will be tabled in Parliament later this year.
Stagnant conservation funding
On a separate matter, SAM said it is disappointed with Putrajaya’s move to maintain the RM250 allocation for the Ecological Fiscal Transfer funds to support the government’s role in conserving natural resources, with RM50 million from the fund to go to state governments as revenue.
“Such allocations are indeed insufficient to ensure that state governments protect and rehabilitate the forests. We were hoping for increased allocations in this regard.
“(While) RM50 million provided to states (is) welcomed, (the amount) is really too small,” SAM said, pointing out that greater allocations to ensure the complete protection of water catchment forests would better guarantee the sustainability of water resources.
Sungai Papar, SabahIt also highlighted that Anwar failed to mention the importance of efforts to protect the Central Forest Spine, with no emphasis given to the creation and protection of wildlife corridors to prevent human-wildlife conflict.
SAM also took issue with the lack of resources allocated to prevent the poaching, smuggling, and trafficking of the nation’s flora and fauna.
While it acknowledged the government’s RM80 million allocation for 2,500 community rangers tasked with protecting forests, the group stressed that the funds should also cover efforts to curb wildlife poaching and trafficking.
Balancing development, environmental protection
ADSResponding to the RM300 million allocation to treat, maintain, and clean rivers, SAM argued that more emphasis could have been placed on ensuring more resources for enforcement and monitoring of environmental degradation, such as addressing water and air pollution.
“We are deeply concerned about the focus on promotion of data centres and AI (artificial intelligence), but we do not see sufficient attention given to addressing the high energy and water consumption stemming from this sector.
“This will increase the costs of our energy transition and has not been factored into our National Energy Transition Roadmap,” it lamented.
The group also welcomed the RM460 million allocation for the National Disaster Management Agency to strengthen disaster preparedness as well as the government’s move to expand its solar lights initiative to villages nationwide.
“To support sustainable lifestyles, rebates for the purchase of energy-efficient appliances by consumers and traders will continue, with an allocation of RM20 million.
“In this regard, we welcome the move as this is the right way to encourage energy efficiency,” it added. - FMT

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