KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) criticised Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof today for saying Lynas Malaysia should not be made to send its waste back to Australia.

Redzuan said yesterday that Lynas’s investment in Malaysia was "too big to ignore”, and claimed the Cabinet will not force the firm to send its waste back to Australia unless these were "very unsafe”.

His comments directly contradicted the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry (MESTECC) that said Lynas must honour its pledge to remove such waste from Malaysia.

"We find the minister’s statement completely unacceptable as it clearly reflects that he is putting the profits of the company over and above the safety of the Malaysian people and the environment,” SM Mohamed Idris, who chairs both groups, said in a statement today.

"Moreover, it is not the entrepreneur minister’s mandate to interfere with the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC), who is responsible for handling the toxic and radioactive wastes generated by the Lynas Plant in Gebeng, Kuantan.”

Malaysia has asked Australia to accept 450,000 metric tonnes of radioactive waste produced by Australian firm Lynas Corp at its rare-earth processing plant in Kuantan.

Mohamed said the waste was unlike normal effluents as they carried trace radiation with very long half-life.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said the Cabinet will discuss the future of Lynas at a coming meeting.