GEORGE TOWN: Cabinet ministers should be firm with their actions in demanding that Lynas Malaysia ship out radioactive wastes from Malaysia, said Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP).
Their president S.M. Mohamed Idris said the plant should cease operations if it failed to adhere to such demand.
He said the recent statement of Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof was shocking, when the latter had reportedly said that Lynas Malaysia should not be compelled to export its wastes back to Australia as the plant’s investments were “too big to ignore”.
“We find that the minister’s statement was completely unacceptable, as it suggests that he is putting the profits of the company over and above the safety of the Malaysian people and the environment.
He said it was not the minister’s mandate to interfere with the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC), which is responsible for handling of toxic and radioactive wastes generated by the Lynas plant in Gebeng, Kuantan.
“We are completely in support with MESTECC’s decision to ask the Lynas plant to remove and dispose of its radioactive wastes contained in the Water Leach Purification (WLP) process, which is in accordance with the two letters of undertaking given by the company to the government in February and March 2012,” he said today.
Idris added that Redzuan should have shown support to the efforts made by MESTECC’s Minister Yeo Bee Yin which aimed at ensuring that Lynas stick to the government’s plans.
“It is unacceptable that he is taking Lynas’ side!
“SAM and CAP have always been calling for the wastes to be exported, as these wastes cannot be regarded as naturally-occurring radioactive material but are in fact technologically-enhanced, made dangerous by technological processes, which involve removal from the ground and concentrated by mechanical and chemical processes,” he pointed out.
He added that claims that the radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium in the WLP could be diluted to make them less radioactive, was baseless.
He said uranium, thorium and their subsequent by-products could remain for in the ecosystem for a very long time and the best option in safeguarding public health and the environment was to send the wastes back to Australia.
“SAM and CAP urge all Cabinet ministers to stand firm in demanding that Lynas ship out the radioactive wastes from Malaysia and for the plant to stop operations, if it does not do so as soon as possible,” he asserted.