LYNAS WILL STAY "IF" BN REMAINS IN PUTRAJAYA

LYNAS WILL STAY "IF" BN REMAINS IN PUTRAJAYA

So long as the current administration under Najib Razak is in power, the Lynas plant will stay. There is no way, despite all the demonstrations and protest being held by folks in Gebeng, Kuantan and nationwide, for the people of Malaysia to stop Lynas unless the BN administration at Putrajaya is first removed in the coming General Election.

From the number of other incidents, we have learnt that this is the modus operandi of BN administration under Najib. In the case of Teoh Beng Hock, it is first the Inquiry, then the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), but no actions have been taken against the few MACC staff in the Selangor office. We have also seen the trial of Altantuya’s tragic death, how the third defendant was suddenly acquitted, and a number of questions have yet to be answered.

Najib has just said that there will be no tribunal to investigate the attorney-general and former Inspector-General of Police by dismissing the allegation as just an unsubstantiated claim. By saying this, Najib is showing that he is not interested to know the truth of such a serious allegation. While a tribunal should be set up to unearth the truth of the matter, Najib should realise that, substantiated or not, the allegation has attracted a lot of public interest.

Also, after the expose by PKR about the cowgate scandal, all that we see is Najib trying to protect certain parties, while the Rakyat’s money has been abused.

There are just too many other cases which have shaken the people’s confidence in our country’s administration, the judiciary, the police and the MACC. Can we trust that Najib will act in the interest of the people, even after the PSC has tabled its report?

Scientific proofs are what Najib has sought for, but scientific proofs have been twisted to cover up the truth. Like in the case of Teoh Beng Hock’s death, where there were experts who contradicted each other, I am of the opinion that even in the Lynas issue, there will be two sides of the story; who would Najib listen to?

Even when a parliamentary select committee is set up, Najib has flip-flopped in his statements to the Malaysian public. In an earlier statement made on March 17, Najib had said that that the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on the Lynas rare earths plant could not decide on whether the refinery would be built. In other words, what is the point of setting up a PSC, when people’s lives of thousands of Malaysians are at stake? Is the prime minister himself oblivious of the dangers of exposure to radioactivity? Najib should personally visit Bukit Merah to see the tragedy that was created by his predecessors, instead of allowing history to repeat itself.

In the latest statement made during an interview with radio station, 988FM which Najib contradicted himself, when he said he would scrap the Lynas plant construction, if there was scientific evidence to prove it was hazardous. Why does he allow the construction of Lynas to progress despite the protest by the Malaysian populace?

Why hasn’t this prime minister taken cognizance of the dangers that Lynas will pose to the Malaysian public? By allowing Lynas to continue with its construction, the amount of compensation to be paid later on by the Malaysian government would be so much higher by comparison.

Collectively, we from Pakatan have raised this issue on the behalf of the rakyat, but Najib continues to close an eye. Is this his plot to use the PSC to buy time and allow Lynas to continue with its construction? When he returns to power in the next General Election, he can give Lynas the go ahead to operate, despite all the protest that he has seen; if Pakatan takes over the Federal Government, it would be forced to compensate a huge sum of money to Lynas.

Enough is enough. The Rakyat is fed up. By August 31 this year, the country is 55 years under BN rule. It is now for the Rakyat to decide whether they choose to keep the Barisan Government in power for the next 50 years.

PRESS STATEMENT by Fuziah Salleh
National Vice President (PKR)
& MP Kuantan
on 24th March 2012