IPOH (Feb 26): All blasting works at quarry sites in Perak must be carried out by certified blasters and supervised by consulting engineers to ensure they do not pose any negative impacts on buildings and the general public.

State Science, Environment and Green Technology Committee chairman Teh Kok Lim said monitoring of tremors and air explosions using seismometers should also be conducted at nearby locations of public interest or at any location directed by the Department of Minerals and Geosciences (JMG).

He said that the monitoring work should also be carried out by the quarry operators or through consulting engineers, with the results to be recorded and submitted to JMG periodically.

According to him, blasting activities are subject to strict conditions, covering areas such as blasting design, blaster qualifications, timing of explosions, restrictions on tremor parameters, and air blasts.

“In addition, the proposed blasting design prepared by a certified blaster must be verified by the mining consulting engineer and then submitted to the JMG before the blasting work is carried out,” he said during the question-and-answer session at the state legislative assembly sitting here on Monday.

Teh said this in reply to a question from Azizi Mohamed Ridzuwan (PN-Lubok Merbau) about the state government's monitoring of quarry activities in the state to ensure they do not harm the environmental ecosystem in nearby areas.

Meanwhile, he said that the environmental ecosystem remains unaffected by any quarry activity conducted in Perak and that the state authorities ensure this by taking several measures, including issuing mining licences or mining leases for quarry land.

He said that the action is in line with the amendment to the National Land Code Act 2008, which classified limestone and granite as minerals.

Teh said the move was to ensure that the control of quarry activities in Perak was administered and regulated under the Minerals (Perak) Enactment 2003 and the Mineral Development Act 1994.