KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — The Cabinet’s meeting minutes should be made publicly available for scrutiny following its decision to remove the requirement for Lynas Corp to repatriate its water leach purification (WLP) residue as a precondition for its licence renewal, a Pahang DAP state assemblyman said today.

Tanah Rata assemblyman Chiong Yoke Kong said that the government should allow Malaysians to understand the basis on which the decision was made, as well as the personal stand of each Cabinet member on the Lynas issue.

"Since the PH government is making a huge U-turn on the issue of Lynas, it has the responsibility to explain to the voters. Adhering to the principles of transparency and accountability, the Cabinet must make the Cabinet’s meeting minutes as well as our ministers’ stances public for scrutiny,” he said in a statement.

Chiong, who is DAP National Youth deputy chairman pointed out that many PH ministers made "clear promises” before GE14 that Lynas Corp can never leave its waste here.

He cited the 39th promise in the PH Manifesto, namely "Balancing economic growth with environmental protection” which states that laws affecting environmental management and protection will be revised so that proper governance structures can be created and strict rules will be enforced to ensure that foreign companies in Malaysia do not "contribute to pollution.”

"In other words, closing down Lynas’s rare-earth processing plant is a promise made clearly in the PH Manifesto during the GE14,” he said, adding that voters have a right to know the how the Cabinet arrived at that decision.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad confirmed this week that the government was dropping its requirement for Lynas to repatriate its water leach purification (WLP) residue as a precondition for its licence renewal due by September 1.

The announcement drew criticism from groups such as Save Malaysia Stop Lynas that said it will organise a protest in Kuantan on August 18 and hold the decision against the Pakatan Harapan government in the next general election.