Bentong MP demands Lynas give proof of activists’ link to Dragonbridge

 

Bentong MP Wong Tack has demanded that Lynas provide evidence and names of the Malaysian anti-Lynas activists whom they claimed to have direct links and mutual engagement with pro-China Dragonbridge social media accounts.

This comes after a statement made by Lynas Rare Earths recently, claiming that it has been briefed by Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm, in relation to its identification of a social media disinformation campaign against the company by Malaysian accounts associated with the Dragonbridge campaign.

Wong said the allegations made by Lynas are absurd and ill-intentioned.

Bentong MP Wong Tack

“Lynas claims to have evidence of direct links between fake social media accounts spreading disinformation and political agendas.

“They further claimed that they have evidence of direct and mutual engagement between pro-China Dragonbridge social media accounts and the Malaysian anti-Lynas activists.

“Were the hundreds of thousands of Malaysians from across the nation who have gone on multiple street protests against Lynas since 2011 ‘fake accounts’? Were the tens of thousands who joined the 300km GreenWalk from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur ‘fake accounts’?” he responded.

‘Dirty tactic by Lynas’

Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh also echoed this sentiment.

“Photographs of anti-Lynas demonstrations in Malaysia were shared by anti-Lynas pro-China Dragonbridge accounts but the report itself did not link the Dragonbridge social media accounts to the Malaysian anti-Lynas activists.

“Lynas seems to be using pro-China sentiments against the rare earth industry to its advantage in order to discredit anti-Lynas sentiments in Malaysia by insinuating that they are not real.

“Once again, this is a dirty tactic used once too often by Lynas,” she said.

Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh

Wong, meanwhile, questioned if Lynas was using this latest accusation to cover up a recent case in which it allegedly requested the government to discard an important condition in its operating licence which will expire in March 2023.

“In order to get their licence approved in 2012, Lynas promised that they would send all their toxic radioactive wastes back to Australia.

“However, since their operations started a decade ago, they have piled up their radioactive wastes on site.

“Now there are about a million tonnes of radioactive wastes sitting on a high-risk area, posing serious risks to the 700,000 households living in close proximity,” Wong said.

The condition, set by the Pakatan Harapan government, was to move the cracking and leaching facility, which produces radioactive Water Leach Purification residue, outside Malaysia before July 2023. - Mkini