Dato’ Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has questioned Wong Tack, who had previously threatened to burn down rare earth materials producer Lynas, his next course of action now that the Bentong MP is with the Pakatan Harapan government.
“In the past, he said he wanted to ‘burn down the Lynas factory’ in Kuantan, and now (Wong) is Bentong MP and PH has taken over Putrajaya, has Wong’s stand remains the same?
PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has questioned Wong Tack, who had previously threatened to burn down rare earth materials producer Lynas, his next course of action now that the Bentong MP is with the Pakatan Harapan government.
The MCA president asked if Wong Tack’s stand on Lynas remains the same despite being part of the government now.
The DAP environmental activist is in the spotlight when Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof was quoted by Utusan Malaysia as saying that the government will allow Lynas to remain in the country to woo foreign direct investment (FDI).
“In the past, he said he wanted to ‘burn down the Lynas factory’ in Kuantan, and now (Wong) is Bentong MP and PH has taken over Putrajaya, has Wong’s stand remains the same?
“Wong, please fulfil your promise, and ‘jangan cakap tak serupa bikin’ (walk the talk),” Dr Wee said on his Facebook page on Sunday (March 31).
Wong Tack, in a Facebook post on Sunday, said that it was “absurd” to allow Lynas to remain in Malaysia to draw foreign investors.
Wong Tack said that he rejected Lynas’ rare earth refinery in Gebeng based on environmental injustice and violations of Malaysia’s law.
He said this in response to Mohd Redzuan’s comments.
“Rejecting Lynas is based on environmental injustice and violations of a country’s laws, rules and procedures. It has nothing to do with FDI. Lumping them together is absurd,” he said.
He said the Entrepreneur Development Minister most likely is ignorant of all the violations committed by Lynas all these years particularly in waste management.
“Or perhaps the Minister has been influenced by Lynas’ spins and allowed it to blur his judgment.
“Nevertheless, I hope Mohd Redzuan will focus on matters within his scope of responsibility and not make irresponsible statement on behalf of MESTECC (The Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry) and the government on an issue which is not within his jurisdiction,” he added.
Wong, an environmental activist, has been on the forefront of rejecting Lynas from operating in Malaysia. He also led the Himpunan Hijau in 2012 to protest against the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP).
Earlier, Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh said Lynas was very good with its messaging strategy that it was easy to fall for their low level radiation narrative.
“Lynas has always been silent on the long life, very, very long life, 14-billion-years half-life of thorium in their radioactive waste.
“Unfortunately many people in the government fell for it and were convinced by their narrative too,” said Fuziah.
“Yes, we welcome FDIs but not ones like Lynas,” she added.
In response, Lynas Malaysia reiterated that it provides the local communities with information based on scientific evidence.
It said the scientific review committee appointed by the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister last year found the company’s operations to be low risk, compliant with relevant regulations and its residue storage facilities were operated in a proper manner.
It added that the review committee said the company was a rare earths extracting plant and could not be compared with a nuclear plant or a plant producing thorium or uranium.
Last December, Yeo Bee Yin said the management of Lynas should honour its commitment to remove its water leach purification (WLP) residue from Malaysia.
The Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister clarified the ministry’s decision to impose additional pre-conditions on Lynas’ licence renewal.
She said there was no viable near-term solution to manage the accumulated residue at LAMP.
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