Two groups on opposite ends of the controversy surrounding the local operations of Australian rare earth mining firm Lynas protested outside Parliament today while facing each other along the road.
A group of about 250 people, comprising mostly Lynas employees, and another group of about 250 anti-Lynas campaign supporters marched on Parliament today around 9am to hand over their respective memoranda.
The Lynas employees handed over their memorandum to a Parliament officer and thanked Entrepreneur Development Minister Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof for supporting the safety of their operations.
They also requested a reasonable amount of time and space to fulfil any new conditions set on their operations.
“Lynas has always been compliant.
“If we haven’t been compliant... how come the authorities haven’t shut us down? We are monitored every day, all our data is put up on display, you can check it online,” said Ismail Bahari (below), who is the Lynas general manager for radiation safety, regulations and compliance.
Meanwhile, the anti-Lynas group led by NGO Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas handed their memorandum to Deputy Minister in Prime Minister’s Department and Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh.
They were also greeted outside Parliament by several other lawmakers, including Bentong MP Wong Tack, Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul, Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim, Subang MP Wong Chen, Wangsa Maju MP Tan Yee Kew and Merbok MP Nor Azrina Surip, among others.
The group said their memorandum was meant for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin.
Among others, they demanded that the government suspends the operational licence of Lynas and ensures Lynas takes steps to remove its toxic waste from Malaysia before September.
“We don’t want Lynas here in Kuantan, who will want to live there?
“Why does Kuantan need to accept such factories here? The Pakatan Harapan government should listen to the voice of the rakyat.
“Please shut down the factory,” Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas chairperson Tan Bun Teet said to reporters outside Parliament. The Lynas factory is located in Gebeng, Kuantan.
They also brought a mock flight ticket (below) bearing Redzuan’s name, with the destination being Sydney.
Lynas vice-president of people and culture Mimi Afzan Afza said the Malaysian arm of the company is staffed by Malaysians.
“We are Lynas Malaysia, and we are Malaysians.
“We and our families are worried by the unsupported assertions made about our operations.
“It is our simple plea that any decision about Lynas is made based on scientific fact and evidence,” Mimi Afzan said.
On Friday, Mahathir had confirmed that Lynas can continue to operate locally, as long as the firm adheres to the stipulation that it removes its radioactive waste from the country, or finds ways to reduce the radioactivity of raw materials before bringing them into Malaysia.
Late last year, the Environment Ministry instructed Lynas to send its more than 450,000-tonne stockpile of Water Leach Purification (WLP) residue to Australia by September 2, 2019, which is when its temporary storage licence is up for renewal.
This was one of two pre-conditions set by the ministry, the other being that the company must submit an action plan on the disposal of its accumulated nonradioactive neutralisation underflow residue (NUF). - Mkini
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