Media statement by Lim Guan Eng in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 31^st March 2012: 

AELB must lodge an MCMC report to restore the truth, repair the credibility of our scientific institutions and renew the confidence of foreign investors 

After maintaining a long and inert silence, the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) has finally issued a statement of clarification to rubbish claims that the Bosch solar panel plant in Batu Kawan, Penang would produce radioactive materials.

In a statement reported by the media yesterday, the AELB pointed out that such plants "do not generally produce or emit radioactive material and so are not subject to the Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984".

On March 21, pro-BN blog The Mole had quoted AELB director-general Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan as saying that the Bosch plant "will produce radioactive material" and would therefore need licence from the regulator.

The AELB has now refuted this by saying that "the article in The Mole which refers to the AELB director-general's statement on the solar panel project in Penang is not so accurate and has caused confusion among some parties".

The AELB then added that "if the plant does not use or produce any radioactive material, the company does not have to get a licence from AELB to operate."

This issue has been twisted and politicised by certain pro-BN media and pro-BN politicians especially in Penang in an effort to divert attention away from the BN's problems, particularly in the Lynas issue.

How can anyone claim that solar energy produces radioactive energy, when any primary student knows it produces electromagnetic and not radioactive energy?

Unfortunately, these irresponsible claims may have done irreparable damage to efforts to attract foreign investments, not to mention tarring the credibility of our scientific institutions, including the AELB as well as violating the sacred principle of truthful reporting.

We regret that it has taken so long for such a basic clarification to emerge from the AELB. This unreasonable delay has caused harm to their reputation as an independent professional body as well as a competent regulatory institution. The AELB must therefore act fast to restore its reputation by lodging a report with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) against these websites that have deliberately twisted and misrepresented their director-general's statement.

An MCMC report must be lodged in order to restore the truth, repair the credibility of our scientific institutions and renew the confidence of foreign investors that have now been severely affected by the irresponsible and misleading reports where black has become white and white has become black.

BN's desperate attempts to undermine the Penang PR state government and my leadership should not come at the cost of adversely affecting the future of our country. There is no point asking for an apology from The Mole as they do not believe in truthful reporting, but the real question is whether the AELB and MCMC is willing uphold their reputation for scientific truth and truthful reporting?

*Lim Guan Eng, DAP Secretary General & MP for Bagan