DAP: PSC on Lynas ‘a sham’

GEORGE TOWN: The DAP has rejected the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on controversial Lynas rare earth processing plant as a sham committee to hoodwink the people.

DAP secretary-general and MP for Bagan Lim Guan Eng said that the party would not be part of the “sham PSC.”

He said the DAP would propose to the Pakatan Rakyat leadership not to allow BN to use the presence of opposition MPs in the PSC to legitimatise the Lynas plant.

He said Pakatan will not be part of any environmental disaster that can happen in the future.

“The committee was merely to serve to deliver a fait accompli by endorsing the Lynas plant.

“The PSC is to force a public acceptance towards Lynas without due regards for safety, environmental and health concerns,” said the Penang Chief Minister in his blog here today.

Lim said Putrajaya had confirmed that the PSC was a disguise by BN to legitimatise what is essentially wrong and against public interest.

He quoted Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak who said the PSC would not decide on the fate of Lynas, it is merely an engagement process so that the project can be carried out and would not be opposed by the people or create public fear.

Lim noted that the premier has reportedly expressed hopes that the PSC could raise awareness on the project so that “we can achieve comfort in terms of better public acceptance.”

Lim said the whole PSC exercise was merely to help the project gain acceptance and to help the BN government convince Malaysians that there is no threat from the Lynas plant and its potentially hazardous radioactive waste.

‘Malaysians will not be so easily fooled’
If the PSC cannot decide on the fate of the project, he said it was a complete waste of time for DAP or Pakatan to participate as the PSC was nothing more than a fait accompli to rubberstamp approval of the plant.

He criticised the BN government for valuing profits above all in awarding Lynas a 12-year tax holiday at the expense of public health, especially in Kuantan.

“Malaysians will not be so easily fooled by BN. We demand an answer to the real issue at hand,” said Lim, adding that until today, there was uncertainty over where the radioactive waste will be stored.

Initially, he said the Atomic Energy Licensing Board or AELB has claimed that Lynas Corporation would be required to return any radioactive waste to Australia if it fails to set-up a suitable permanent disposable facility here.

But the proposal has been rejected by Australia. The AELB then said that the radioactive waste may be stored in abandoned tin mines in Sungai Lembing.

“This clearly reinforces the fact that the wastes would be disposed in Malaysian soil.

He said his Penang government would reject any Lynas plant or nuclear reactors in Penang and would not compromise on public health and safety.

“DAP will suggest for Pakatan not to participate in the PSC as we should not be used as tools in the BN’s bid to fool the people and to justify the setting up of the Lynas rare earth plant,” he said.