Anti-Lynas groups have called on the Government to look into the other polluting factors that will result from the rare earth refinery in Gebeng.
Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas chairman Tan Bun Teet said while the attention was on the radioactive waste disposal management, other polluting factors such as the waste gas released from the plant had been neglected.
“What about other contaminants from the plant that will flow into the Balok River and the South China Sea every day?” he asked at a joint press conference with the Stop Lynas Coalition (SLC) here yesterday.
Tan was responding to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s statement that the Government had instructed Lynas Corp to relocate its residue disposal site to a location far from the Gebeng plant and local communities.
Himpunan Hijau chairman Wong Tack also expressed similar sentiments in a statement.
“Every step of the processing of raw materials is highly hazardous and can cause irreversible harm to the environment and the well-being of the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, SLC chairman Andansura Rabu pointed out the contradictory statements issued by Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and Atomic Energy Licensing Board director-general Raja Datuk Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan.
“Liow is reported to have said Lynas is required to move its radioactive waste outside of Kuantan and ship it back to Australia while Raja Abdul Aziz insisted that the radioactive waste will not be radioactive anymore once it has been treated,” he said.
