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- Published on Wednesday, 13 January 2016 15:13
He said the Assignment of Export Duty (Mineral Ores) Act 1964 requires the federal government to impose export duties on mining of minerals, of which half of the collected amount was to be distributed to the state government.
Rafizi said he was appalled that upon checking the Royal Customs Department's website, the export duty for bauxite, which was registered under the code 260600000 (aluminium ores and concentrates) was at 0%.
He added that according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics, Malaysia was estimated to have produced 20 million tones of bauxite last year, all of which were exported at an average price of US$45 per tonne (or RM180 at an average exchange rate of RM4 for each US$1).
"At that rate, the total bauxite exported for 2015 should have reached RM3.6 billion. However, the government has decided not to impose export duty on the item even though bauxite operators are reported to have earned a net profit of up to 40% for each tonne," he said.
He explained that the 10% would have amounted to at least RM360 million, which should have then be divided equally between the federal and state governments, with each receiving RM180 million.
Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh also urged the government to explain the 0% tariff on bauxite exports, adding that something needed to be done to address the issue of Kuantan residents losing their source of income.
"When we found out that it was at 0%, then what about the implications towards us? The Kuantan people are the ones at loss, while those who profited are only a handful (in the industry).
Meanwhile, Rafizi claimed that RM1.6 billion of the RM2.4 billion sukuk that 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) received for the relocation and development of the military base on Bandar Malaysia land were unaccounted for.
He claimed that 1MDB had, in a statement on Jan 6, admitted that it has only so far paid RM800 million for the relocation, after selling off 60% equity of Bandar Malaysia, even though it has issued a sukuk of RM2.4 billion.
-theSundaily
