KUANTAN: The land in Bukit Ketam, near here, the site of the proposed permanent disposal facility (PDF) for Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd, is not located near any water catchment area or stream.
Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail (BN- Jelai) said he and the state secretary (Datuk Seri Dr Sallehuddin Ishak) had already inspected the site.
"The PDF site was approved by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), an agency under the the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry. During my visit with the state secretary, we did not find any water catchment areas as claimed by certain quarters.
"Even Benta assemblyman (State Agriculture, Agro-Based Industry and Biotechnology committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Soffi Abd Razak) and Lanchang assemblyman (State Tourism and Culture committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin) visited the site and confirmed there is no stream in the area," he said when replying to a question by Lee Chean Chung (PKR- Semambu) at the one-day Pahang state assembly sitting here today.
Lee claimed that some 600,000 residents in Kuantan were concerned about the future source of clean water as Bukit Ketam serves as a water catchment area for Sungai Kuantan.
He said maybe the state government should conduct an in-depth study on Bukit Ketam and consider moving the PDF to another site.
Meanwhile, during the winding up session, Lee said Dr Maketab Mohamed (a former member of the government's Lynas executive review committee) during his visit to the site had confirmed that the area was within a water catchment area (tributary) that flows to Sungai Riau before reaching Sungai Kuantan.
"The PDF might result in the ground water being contaminated. The state government should work along with AELB to conduct studies on the site," he said.
In his reply, Wan Rosdy said AELB along with their experts had conducted check before deciding Bukit Ketam as the chosen site. For the sake of the people here, he assured that the state government would look into it (PDF matter) again.
Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas (SMSL) had early this year claimed that the areas surrounding Bukit Ketam were water catchment areas for the Kuantan district.
Kuantan member of parliament Fuziah Salleh had also cautioned Lynas that various aspects had to be looked into and studied while those concerned had to be informed and consulted as it covers various aspects including economy, health and public impact.
Earlier this month, Science, Technology and Innovation minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the AELB has approved the usage of the land for the construction of the PDF, subject to a radiological impact assessment (RIA), environmental impact assessment (EIA) and other relevant assessments by local authorities.