Lynas PDF a legitimate concern of the people

LETTER | I strongly condemn Lynas’s threat to sue the ordinary citizens of Malaysia who have courageously stepped forward to voice their concerns on the site chosen for Lynas’s PDF. I call upon all responsible Malaysians to unite against this act of continuous bullying of our people.

How Lynas intends to deal with their massive pile of radioactive wastes is a decade-long legitimate concern of the people of Malaysia. In any responsible country, it would have been compulsory to address this sort of concern during the initial licence application stage by a company like Lynas.

In fact, the condition that the location of the PDF must be submitted and approved within ten months after the issuance of Lynas’s Temporary Operating License (TOL), failing which Lynas’s licence will be suspended or revoked, was set by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) in 2012 

What is most ironic and unbelievable is that instead of taking action under the previous administration, the AELB, an agency under the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) had again, on Aug 15 last year, set the same condition for further extension of Lynas’s licence. 

I have even asked questions specific to this matter in Parliament twice but they have gone unanswered.

The ministry’s decision on whether to further extend Lynas’s operating licence should not be based on what’s good for the industry. 

It should be based on what’s good for the wellbeing of our people and the environment. 

It should be based on the rule of law and justice.

The ministry must firmly reject Lynas’s application for licence renewal in March.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.