Residents in Balok, adjacent to Gebeng, Kuantan, where Lynas' rare earth processing plant is located, have lodged police reports against anti-Lynas activists Tan Boon Teet and Wong Tack, who is also the Bentong MP.
The pro-Lynas residents said the two individuals as well as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Fuziah Salleh, who is also a fierce Lynas critic, said they did not represent the local villagers.
"The villagers here have no problem with the Lynas factory which has been confirmed to be safe. Many villagers work at the factory.
"Enough with politicising the issue when the Lynas factory has been confirmed to be safe by experts appointed under both the BN and Pakatan Harapan governments," the residents' representative Shaharuddin Samsudin told Malaysiakini.
Balok village chief Mansor Mokhtar led the group to lodge a police report against the anti-Lynas activists at the Beserah police station yesterday.
The government is expected to announce the status of Lynas' license renewal by the middle of this month.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has indicated that the government is leaning towards renewing the license which will expire next month.
This has courted sharp criticism from Wong and Fuizah, who is also the Kuantan MP.
Fuziah had taken aim at leaders in her own government, in particular, those who were formerly from BN, whom she claimed were continuously being deceived by Lynas.
While Lynas has provided some 600 jobs for the local community, there are concerns about the mounting waste it is producing, some of which are radioactive.
Lynas' plan to manage the waste will be part of the pre-requisite for its license renewal.
It can either send the waste out of the country or build a permanent waste disposal facility.
The former option is the least likely as Australia, where the rare earth ore originated, has indicated that it won't accept the waste. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.