KJ sidesteps Yeo Bee Yin's poser on Lynas

PARLIAMENT | Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) engaged in a lengthy answer in Parliament today when asked by former minister Yeo Bee Yin (Harapan-Bakri) if he agreed that the conditions for Lynas to continue operating its rare earth plant were now stricter than under BN’s rule.

Instead of directly answering this aspect of Yeo’s question, Khairy chose to focus on whether or not there were any conditions under which Lynas could lose its licence. 

“Lynas holds the license and must establish the permanent disposal facility (PDF) - at the appropriate location - within the first year of the license approval.

“It is now in the process of conducting all relevant studies such as the detailed environmental impact study.

“If Lynas is not able to start the PDF development process within a period of one year from its licence extension, which was in March this year, then the licence may be retracted,” he said. 

Khairy (below) also went into a long explanation on the history of Lynas' operations in Gepeng, Pahang.

When he finished, an exasperated Yeo exclaimed that he had failed to answer her question. 

Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh who was consistently involved in the Lynas issue was unable to get a supplementary question in.

Earlier, when Noh Omar (BN-Tanjung Karang) accused Harapan of double standards by saying that he found it strange that when Harapan was in the opposition it had strongly opposed Lynas, but was able to accept it once it held the government. 

“When BN did something it was wrong, but when Harapan did the same thing it was correct,” he said.

To this Khairy said he had records of a signature campaign for "Harapan untuk Malaysia" (Harapan for Malaysia) in 2012, of which no less than 13 Harapan ministers had signed a petition calling for Lynas’ closure.

[More to follow] - Mkini