Cabinet made collective decision on Lynas, says Syed Saddiq

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman today said the cabinet came to a consensus to grant a six-month licence extension to Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd's rare earth processing plant in Gebeng.

"The cabinet's decision is the collective decision," he told the media after launching a climate change hackathon at Sunway University today.

"I think the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin released a statement yesterday and the cabinet supports her all the way," he said.

The much-anticipated statement on Lynas did not come from Yeo, but the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), which said that Putrajaya had granted the extension to Lynas with conditions.

The Lynas plant was asked to curb its water leach purification (WLP) waste production within four years from the date of the extension, and move the "cracking and leaching" phase of its operations out of the country.

The company had previously said that it is prepared to shift those processes back to Australia.

It was speculated that Syed Saddiq was among the cabinet members who supported Lynas' licence extension.

When asked about this, he said: "This is the cabinet's decision, how can the cabinet decision come out with people (who) don't agree?"

Supporting Dr M

Syed Saddiq, the Bersatu Youth chief, also said the cabinet supports Dr Mahathir Mohamad staying on as the prime minister.

"Bersatu Youth has responded. I think it is time for us to move on," he said. "The cabinet supports Mahathir and we are united on this."

Syed Saddiq was responding to Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim who called for Mahathir to step down earlier this week over his apparent inability to solve key issues.

Hassan said his proposal was in Pakatan Harapan's best interests, amid raging issues involving race, religion and royalty which, he said, in the past had thrice caused the breakup of predecessor coalitions.

Bersatu Youth information chief Ulya Awamah Husamuddin later said that replacing the prime minister would not cause racial issues to suddenly disappear. - Mkini