Liow: Lynas waste cannot to stay

Lynas fired up its kiln earlier this month after surmounting the last legal hurdle to its operation. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 ― The government is firm on its stand not to allow any residue from the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant in the Gebeng Industrial Park, near Kuantan, to remain in the country.

“That is a Cabinet decision. The Cabinet decision is that all residue must be shipped out of the country,” said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He said there was no change in the government’s position despite certain news reports claiming that exporting the toxic waste was not a provision in the temporary operating licence given to the Australian mining firm.

The reports claimed that Lynas was not bound to convert the waste into commercial products and that it was done on a voluntary basis.

“We want to emphasise that whatever the conditions are in the licence, no residue can remain in the country,” he told reporters after witnessing the exchange of documents for biomedical partnership between Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation Sdn Bhd and various parties.

Liow added that failing to comply with the decision could result in Lynas losing the licence awarded to them.

He also said that the temporary operating licence for Lynas was published on the Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s website on September 8 for public scrutiny. — Bernama