She goes on the Bernama News Channel and says that there is concern regarding dust and radiation pollution from the plant affecting the health of 600,000 people in Kuantan.
Let’s go through some history. According to Lynas Corp’s website, the LAMP was commissioned in late 2012 and has been operating at 75% since 2015. It employs 600 locals in its operations.
The company has gone out time and time again to assure the public that its operations are clean, even to the point of inviting people to tour the plant themselves to assess the safety of their operations. Thus, we do need to ask a few questions.
When the MP of Kuantan says that it is unsafe, where is her proof? Has there been an increase in illnesses reported in Kuantan due to the operations of LAMP?
Or is she linking the bauxite mining, red earth spilling operations to Lynas as well? Because while those operations are supposed to be under a moratorium, are they really not operating or shipping red earth on the highways via oil palm estate roads?
In fact, isn’t this the dust and air pollution that continues to plague Kuantan and most parts of Pahang, with allegedly 100 mines without permits? Has this been measured and compared to the LAMP?
Furthermore, are there any measures whatsoever to say that the LAMP is producing more pollution than any other industrial operation in or nearby Kuantan?
Is Kuantan not also getting so-called air pollution from the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park, which has a steel plant producing 3,000 tonnes annually? Has there been a comparison between the pollution of smelting steel and the production of rare earth?
If the Kuantan lawmaker is serious about looking into the health effects of the industry on the 600,000 people in her district, has there been any move to stop the steel manufacturing plant, the trucks carrying red earth, and of course the review of LAMP, all at once?
No, there has not. In fact, the actions taken towards LAMP, to the point of having a ministry establish a committee to review its effects on the environment, are discriminatory. So let us just admit that the only reason Lynas is being forced to go through this is because of the fear-mongering done during the election period, nothing more.
It is not about air pollution or dust particles, nor is it about radiation. It is about fear.
And surely, if we were so concerned about air pollution in this country, then the energy, environment, and green technology ministry would have teamed up with the transport ministry by now to have every single car, express bus and heavy duty transport and construction vehicle on the roads pulled over for an emissions test.
But we don’t see that, do we? So perhaps the government should drop the act that it actually cares about “pollution” and “the environment”, when it truly cares only about being seen as doing something to preserve its image as a “green government”.
Hafidz Baharom is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.