MP: Don't exploit rare earth arbitrarily like selling vegetables

PARLIAMENT | Howard Lee (Pakatan Harapan-Ipoh Timor) has called for federal regulation of the rare earth elements (REE), following the announcement that state governments are given authority to explore the field.

Lee stressed, however, that regulation must be done at a federal level to prevent exploitation of the industry in the long run.

“REE’s potential is expansive, and the government cannot allow this wealth to be exploited arbitrarily like selling vegetables and anchovies.

“I propose the government enact a bill or establish a federal government agency to regulate, manage and develop the entire REE value chain.

“State governments cannot and will not be able to do it alone,” Lee (above) said during his debate on the Supply Bill 2024 in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Earlier this month, National Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad announced that state governments were permitted to conduct early explorations for REE, following the existing standard operating procedures (SOP) for rare earth and mineral mining.

He said that a committee to coordinate mineral industry development will also look into the need to create a national framework to develop the minerals industry.

Likening the REE industry to oil wars in the past, Lee said that rare earth was a commodity of high geopolitical significance.

Appropriate policies

Lee also said that a federal government agency, such as Petronas, was crucial in developing the industry.

“We also need an agency or GLC, like Petronas, that will steer the value (of REE) based on appropriate policies and laws.

“Petronas has hundreds of lawyers, financial and commodity analysts, and economists with special legal expertise in the field of oil and gas, as well as consulting, and trading models.

“Which state government can afford wages (to hire the expertise)?”

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli has said that Malaysia’s REE deposits were among the most significant on this side of the globe, and represented an untapped economic potential.

The REE industry is also expected to contribute as much as RM9.5 billion to the country's GDP by 2025, creating almost 7,000 job opportunities.