The Australian High Commissioner’s defence of Lynas in the face of compelling evidence it has contravened the terms of its operating licence is an unprecedented breach in diplomatic protocol in Malaysia.
Instead of working to ease tensions between the Australian company and the country that is host to its business, as diplomats normally would, Andrew Goledzinowski’s statement of 10 June 2019 regarding Lynas encourages adversarial behaviour and corporate malfeasance.
Mr Goledzinowski’s denial of Lynas’s moral and, indeed, corporate responsibilities in Malaysia is shocking behaviour for a diplomat.
Most importantly, Australia’s most senior diplomat here is making light of Malaysian law.
Mr Goledzinowski challenges my statement that removing all waste from Malaysia is part of a “legally binding agreement signed by Lynas”.
From the time of Lynas’s entry into Malaysia in 2012, approval of its operating licence was clearly conditional upon the Australian miner shipping out all wastes generated from its processing plant in Pahang.
The following points, encapsulated from various official documents attached here, clearly show Lynas’s contractual obligations.
- On 22 Feb 2012, former ministers of MITI, MOSTI, Health and Natural Resources state (Attachment 1) Lynas must undertake to return any residue generated by its factory in Gebeng to its original source.
- The next day, former executive chairman of Lynas Nick Curtis signed a letter of undertaking (Att: 2), committing to remove from Malaysia all waste generated by the Lynas plant in Gebeng, Kuantan.
- On 6 March 2012, a similar undertaking (Att: 3) is given by Mashal Ahmad, Managing Director of Lynas Malaysia.
- Lynas’s TOL is subsequently issued by AELB, effective for 2 years from 3 Sep 2012 to 2 Sep 2014.
- Six days after the issuance of the TOL, on 8 Sep 2012, AELB tells Lynas (Att: 4) the issue of “removal of residue … is legally binding and AELB will enforce it”.
- On 10 Dec 2012, a second joint-ministerial statement endorsed by the then Cabinet (Att: 5) reiterates that the TOL granted to Lynas requires as a specific condition that it removes all the residue generated by LAMP out of Malaysia. This includes all products made from the residue. Should Lynas fail to comply, AELB to revoke the TOL and order Lynas to immediately cease operation.
- On 12 Dec 2012, a third joint-ministerial statement (Att: 6) says the Cabinet reaffirms the decisions made by the four ministers as conveyed on 10 Dec 2012 and that the Government’s position to demand Lynas to remove all its waste remained unchanged (Att: 5).
- Lynas’s operating licence was extended twice (now valid till 2 Sep 2019), but waste generated remains in Malaysia, in contravention of licence conditions and defiance of Cabinet directives.
Mr Goledzinowski claims Lynas is licensed to explore three options for WLP — commercial re-use, permanent storage, or removal if re-use and storage are unfeasible.
As put forth above, the previous Malaysian Cabinet directives was clear. All wastes have to be removed from Malaysia, failing which Lynas’s license shall be revoked. There was no “options”. Period.
And if Lynas thinks that this was an unreasonable licensing condition, then why did Lynas commit to a legally binding agreement to remove the waste?
Now, let me answer Mr. Goledzinowski further claims that my assertions that Lynas has violated various Malaysian laws were incorrect. He says :
1) Lynas is not located in a flood-prone area.
Please see Photo 1 which was taken by Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) in December 2014 of the area Lynas now stockpiles its toxic waste.
2) The law allows for extensions of onsite storage of scheduled waste above 20 metric tonnes, and no more than 180 days in which Lynas has been granted.
Yes, under the law, the Director General (DG) of the Department of Environment (DOE) can approve applications by waste generator to store more than 20 metric tonnes of scheduled waste onsite. However, there is no provision under this same law that allows for extensions beyond 180 days (see Attachment 7: Environmental Quality (Scheduled Waste) Regulations 2005 – Regulation 9(6)).
It is also mind-boggling why the DG of DOE has allowed Lynas to store more than 50,000 times (i.e.over a million metric tonnes) above the legal limit for SIX years. This is certainly something that calls for MACC to look into.
3) Lynas scheduled waste was kept in fully-covered containers, properly quantified, contained and labelled with the dates the wastes are produced.
Please see the attached photos 2 and 3.
Photo 2 shows Lynas’s scheduled waste (Neutralization Underflow Residue) piled up in the open. This photo was provided by Lynas itself to the MESTECC on 24 Nov 2018.
Photo 3 shows how Lynas piles up their waste, including the toxic radioactive waste WLP (Water Leached Purifications) in the open and exposed to the biosphere.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), in a statement on 20th July 2011 has raised concerns that storing the WLP radiaoctive wastes in open air predispose to radioactive particles dusting the environment, increase the chances of inhalation of such particles by the surrounding community. Radionuclides in air-borne dust inhaled will accumulate in the body, releasing radiation constantly next to the cells which may result in cancer.
In his statement Mr. Goledzinowski also claims that the Australian state government was “disappointed” when Lynas chose Malaysia. Well, in that case, as we have always said, it’s best for Lynas to go back to Australia and abide by the stringent Australian laws and regulations. Don’t export hazardous processes and toxic radioactive wastes to other countries.
We will not allow our children to bear the financial and health burden just because a greedy corporation wants to profit.
Therefore, I would urge Mr Goledzinowski to carry out his duty as an honourable and principled diplomat by advising Lynas to honour its commitment to Malaysia and to cease trying to wriggle its way out of its moral and corporate responsibilities with false and misleading information.
I will also be more than happy to meet Mr Goledzinowski to discuss in detail all the points I present here.