KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — DAP’s Wong Tack today said that the government’s announcement of the removal of the requirement for it to repatriate Lynas Corp's rare-earth processing waste as a precondition for its licence renewal has baffled him as the decision defied logic.
The Bentong MP and known opponent of Lynas questioned how the mining firm were allowed by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) and Department of Environment (DoE) to operate for the past seven years without a waste management plan.
“It certainly defies logic. In our country, authorities will not even allow a house owner to move in if the house doesn’t have a toilet,” he said in a statement.
He also alleged a hidden agenda behind the move to allow Lynas’ waste to remain here, saying it was beyond logic as to why the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government would want to endorse wrongdoings done out of “greed and stupidity” by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.
“Unless, there are some dark secrets with the Lynas deal that the people don’t know of?
“Please tell us so that we can share the burden with you and together we can find a solution to the challenges faced,” he said.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had recently said that the Australian firm were instead directed to construct a permanent disposal facility (PDF) to treat the water leach purification (WLP) residue that is created from rare-earth processing at its facility in Gebeng, Kuantan.
Wong today also pressed for the PH government to reveal actual numbers in terms of revenue the government were yielding from the operations afforded to Lynas, including the expected environmental effects from storing the radioactive waste.
“So, if the PH government decides to give Lynas the licence to generate more radioactive waste in our country, please put forth a detailed explanation, supported by solid facts and figures, to the people.
“Tell us how much is our country making out of Lynas? What are the future earnings expected?
“Please also show us the details of your environmental accounting analysis especially the quantification of the long-term environmental consequences, costs to remediate contaminated sites as well as manage and maintain Lynas’s radioactive dump after they are long gone,” he said.
