KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Fuziah Salleh should not appointed to chair the committee which will review the operations of Lynas Malaysia.
MCA publicity spokesman Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker questioned the Kuantan member of parliament’s ability to be fair, neutral and objective considering she had been openly against Lynas operations in the country for the past 10 years.
“Fuziah will be pressured to defend her dignity and accountability as well as the trust placed in her to keep her promise to stop Lynas operations as well as to ensure that the industrial waste (from Lynas operations) be sent back to Australia or some other country over claims that the waste is toxic.
“If Fuziah does not keep her promise, which she made many times, she will be seen to be a liar or at least someone who has confused the public over the alleged toxicity and radioactivity of Lynas (industrial waste).
“Therefore, her appointment as head of the committee raises questions... any decision which is not in favour of Lynas would be questioned and considered biased. In this context, Fuziah should not be appointed to chair the committee so that any decision to close down Lynas would be considered a fair one,” he said in a statement.
It was reported that Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin had said Fuziah and Bentong MP Wong Tack would head the committee which would look into the Lynas rare-earth processing operations.
Amanda Lacaze, chief executive officer of Australia’s Lynas Corporation Ltd, responded to the news, saying she hoped the review would be fair, professional and using scientific data.
Ti said an earlier statement from Fuziah in May, which seemed “softer” than when she was an opposition politician, also brought to light questions about whether she had been against the project, located in the Gebeng Industrial Park of Kuantan, purely for political gain and not on facts.
He said Pakatan Harapan should also state its stand on Lynas and questioned whether the review committee was merely a vehicle for the ruling government to now “make a U-turn” on the issue.
“Will Fuziah now come out with a statement which goes against the wishes of the people who want to see Lynas closed down, now that she is no longer in the opposition?
“Any decision to stop Lynas operations will affect the reputation of Malaysia and the government will be seen as an entity that does not honour contracts and one that causes hundreds lose their jobs all because of a political decision,” he said.