Gebeng folks: No political rhetorics in Lynas review, please

The general public from communities living nearby the Lynas plant in Gebeng, Kuantan today demanded the Australian mining company to come clean over the safety of its rare earth processing operations, without any political rhetorics.

The matter was raised during a public inquiry session in Kuantan organised by the government’s Lynas evaluation committee.

Although there was a tense feeling in the air, the overall inquiry session proceeded without a hitch, as participants merely aired their concerns on Lynas’ operations.

“Today I would like to thank the people from Kuantan for their concern towards our safety, and also the people from Bentong who were similarly concerned.

“We the villagers have a very simple mindset, we prioritise our safety,” said a villager who stood up during the session.

“So we hope for this committee to professionally determine whether the operations are safe or otherwise. That is all we want.

“We do not want to hear any political speeches, what more explanations from politicians, on whether it (the operations) is safe or not safe,” said the villager who was met with cheers by the audience.

“Politicians no matter from which side often lies, so do not lie to us villagers.”

Meanwhile, other representatives from anti-Lynas groups kept up their demands for a stop to the factory’s operations.

They argued that if it was true that there were no safety concerns surrounding its operations, Lynas should move its operations back to Australia, along with an estimated 600 Malaysian workers currently under its payroll here.

The government had earlier this month called for a public inquiry session to be held with all stakeholders, including from Lynas, along with NGOs, public health experts, and radioactive experts.

Also present was the Lynas evaluation committee chairperson Dr Mazlin Mokhtar who reassured that their report, to be tabled to the government, would be based on data and facts.

He said the committee would review Lynas’ operations in an open and transparent manner, on top of ensuring that the company will abide by existing guidelines set by the authority. - Mkini