Perak MBI says mindful of past disaster, only exploring rare earth mining

Having signed a memorandum of understanding with a China firm to explore rare earth mining in the state, the Perak government's Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) said it is mindful about the radioactive disaster in Bukit Merah during the 1990s. 

"We were informed that there is a material called lanthanide in Perak and we also understand the sensitivities surrounding rare earths which is why we are working closely with state agencies and the Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry to look at the potential first.

"I want to state that this is still at the preliminary stage. It is only a memorandum of understanding to explore whether it is safe.

"We do not want a repeat of past incidents. We understand about the Bukit Merah incident in the past which is why we are working closely with the agencies mentioned to avoid such incidents.

"But this does not mean we can't explore and see as it is a potential income for the state government but we are very cautious," Perak MBI chief executive officer Anuar Zainal Abidin told a press conference in Petaling Jaya today which was covered by KiniTV.

Earlier today, environmental NGO Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) criticised the Perak government stating that it had not learnt from the Asian Rare Earth disaster which resulted in serious radioactive poisoning of the Bukit Merah community.

Asian Rare Earth was a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemicals which shut down the factory in 1992 as it embarked on a clean-up following radioactive leaks. It also provided compensation for residents without accepting liability for incidents of cancer in the area.

Umno's Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman also criticised the Perak government of not taking cognisance of public pushback against the Lynas rare earths factory in Gebeng, Kuantan.

The radioactive waste tomb at Bukit Merah

Addressing the criticism, Anuar thanked SAM for the concerns raised.

"We have plans to work with NGOs, including SAM, and we thank them for their concerns. We also want to emphasise that we are also concerned about the matter and will not act without in-depth research," he said.

He stressed that MBI will not proceed with the mining if it is found to be unsafe.

"We want to see if it's safe or not. If it is unsafe, we won't dare to proceed. That is why we are working with state and federal experts [...] we have also gone to China to see whether it is safe or not," he said.

The Water, Land and Natural Resouces Ministry on Nov 16 announced that it had witnessed the signing of a memorandum between MBI and Chinalco GXNF Rare Earth Development Co Ltd to "systematically explore rare earth elements" in Perak.

This despite the controversy surrounding the Lynas rare earth processing plant in Pahang. The Harapan government has faced brickbats over its refusal to close down the Lynas plant.

While the facility's closure was not included in Harapan's manifesto, several of its key leaders had during ceramah pledged to shut down the plant if the coalition captured Putrajaya which it did in May last year.

The Harapan government has instead set a four-year time frame for Lynas to build a new facility in Australia where radioactive waste from its rare earths mined at Mount Weld in Western Australia will first be removed before being sent to Malaysia for further processing.

Meanwhile, for existing radioactive waste as well as those that will be produced during the interim period, Lynas is required to build a permanent disposal facility to store them. - Mkini