KUANTAN: The new six-member Lynas Advance Materials Plant (LAMP) executive review committee is an independent line-up which will now ensure its best to safeguard the people’s interest.
Bentong member of parliament Wong Tack said he, along with Kuantan member of parliament Fuziah Salleh, had decided to step down from the previous committee following attempts by Lynas Corporation Ltd to spin the issue.
“Fuziah who was announced as the chairman and myself as the deputy (previous committee) have decided to step down. After Lynas continued to focus on Fuziah, we felt that it was wise for us to step aside and resign. Now we already have a new committee in place and lets wait for it to provide its findings to the government.
“However, I stand firm in my struggle and there is no turning back. I will continue to speak as a backbencher as my priority is always the people and they should be never harmed,” he told reporters when met here today.
Wong said the Pakatan Harapan government will not tolerate what the previous government had done, including using the country as a dumping ground for foreign radioactive waste.
He questioned the previous government’s joint-ministerial statement issued by four ministers that the Temporary Operating Licence (TOL) granted to Lynas requires specific conditions, that the company removes all the residue by LAMP out of Malaysia, including products made from the residue.
“Now the residue is still piling up like mountains in the backyard. It is very clear but unfortunately Lynas has never come to its realisation. There is no U-turn in this issue as we have been struggling for the last seven years,” he said.
Wong also echoed Fuziah’s statement that the government was concerned about the welfare of Lynas employees but at the same time the priority was the welfare and safety of some 700,000 people living in the state capital.
Yesterday, Fuziah, a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, was quoted saying Lynas must take full responsibility for employees who face the risk of losing their jobs if the company was shut down.
On July 8, Energy, Green Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin announced that Fuziah and Wong will lead a committee to review the Lynas’s rare earth refining operations.
However, last week Fuziah, who alleged that she does not want to be used as ammunition by Lynas on the outcome of the review committee, expressed her plan to step down.
Yesterday, the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry announced six individuals to form a new committee - Institute for Environment and Development research fellow Professor Datuk Dr Mazlin Mokhtar, United Nations University - International Institute for Global Health visiting professor Professor Dr Jamal Hisham Hashim and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Occupational Safety, Health and Environment unit director Professor Dr Maketab Mohamed, Universiti Putra Malaysia’s faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Community Health Department Associate Professor Anita Abdul Rahman, Universiti Malaysia Pahang’s Earth Resources and Sustainability Centre director Associate Professor Dr Muzamir Hasan and former director of the Department of Environment’s Air and Hazardous Substances division Datin Paduka Che Asmah Ibrahim.