BN Cabinet and the 4 Ministers are lying that rare earth toxic waste residue must be exported out of Malaysia
Is the Malaysian Cabinet and in particular 4 Ministers lying or Lynas the liar, over the controversy whether the Temporary Operating License(TOL) granted to Lynas has a strict conditon that the rare earth toxic waste residue can not remain in Malaysia but must be exported out of the country? Whilst Lynas claims that it has become a political football due to impending general elections, this is a serious issue with long-term consequences lasting a lifetime that is more important than once in 5 years elections.
Many Malaysians worried about their health and children’s safety are asking following conflicting reports between both Lynas and the Malaysian government whether the TOL makes it compulsory for the wastes to be exported. Based on which party the statements were addressed to, it is clear that Lynas is telling the truth and the entire BN Cabinet is lying.
BN Cabinet and in particular the 4 Ministers are lying that rare earth toxic waste residue must be exported out of Malaysia because Lynas will not dare lie to the Australian Stock Exchange(ASE) with their statement that the license permitted the wastes to remain in Malaysia. It is easy for BN to lie to the people as they have done so for the last 55 years without suffering any serious adverse consequences.
However for Lynas to lie to the ASE has serious repercussions which could lead to the sacking of its top officials, including CEO, and even suspension of Lynas from the ASE. Lynas would not risk such punishment from the ASE with lies.
Two days ago the Cabinet endorsed a ministerial statement by 4 Ministers instructing Australian miner Lynas to ensure all residue and by-products from its rare earth refinery are removed from the country. The 4 Cabinet members are Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Datuk Seri Douglas Unggah Embas and Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.DAP demands the resignation of 4 Ministers for their lie that there is a legal binding agreement to compel Lynas to ship out their toxic residue.
However, this clearly contradicts what Lynas Corporation had said in a stock exchange filing yesterday that the license remains issued and valid, with no requirement to ship out any residue produced from Malaysia and there is no legal impediment to Lynas carrying out its operations at the plant. If what the 4 Ministers said are true, then it is only a simple matter for the government to revoke Lynas’ TOL or shut down Lynas operations immediately for breach of condition of failing to export the toxic residues.
By failing to shut down Lynas or take action and instead only issue statements clearly shows that requiring the toxic residue to be exported out of Malaysia is not an integral part of the TOL conditions and agreements. Lynas’ admission that rare earth waste will remain and not exported out of Malaysia presents a rare opportunity for the Malaysian government to cancel the Kuantan Rare Earth Facility for breach of compliance without needing to pay compensation amounting to billions of ringgit.
If BN refuses to defend the interests of the people’s health and the environment by cancelling the Lynas plant for breach of compliance, then PR will do so when we take over Putrajaya as the plant can now be cancelled for breach of compliance without needing to pay a single sen in compensation.
