Police to call up anti-Lynas rally organisers

Police will be calling up the organisers of the anti-Lynas rally in Taman Gelora, Kuantan, today for breaching provisions of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

Kuantan district police chief ACP Mohamad Noor Yusof Ali said he was informed that the rally organised by Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) had not received consent from the owner of Taman Gelora.

He said the matter was confirmed by Kuantan Municipal Council (MPK) president Hamdan Hussin yesterday, although he confirmed that MPK had received a request from the organisers to hold the rally.

"This rally did not meet the provisions under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012. I wonder why they still continued with the rally when all the necessary requirements had been clearly stated.

"We will file a police report to enable an investigation and appropriate action will be taken according to the law after referring to the state police chief," he told reporters today.

Mohamad Noor said the need for the approval of the venue owner was explained at an hour-long meeting with five SMSL representatives, including its chairman Tan Bun Teet, on Aug 7 at the Kuantan District Police Headquarters (IPD).

He said so far, the organisers had only met one of the requirements, which is giving the police 10 days notice.

The two-hour rally which started at 7.30am only attracted about 300 people, with most of them carrying banners voicing objections to the operation of Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd's rare earth processing plant in Gebeng, here.

In addition to the banners, they also carried posters of pictures of national leaders whom they claimed have failed to fulfil their promises to close the Lynas plant as stated in their manifesto for the last general election.

Also present at Taman Gelora were Bentong Member of Parliament Wong Tack and two Pahang state assemblymen Lee Chean Chung (Semambu) and Sim Chong Siang (Teruntum).

Meanwhile, Tan said they were considering seeking a judicial review of the government's decision to extend Lynas's operating licence, which expires on Sept 3, by six months under certain conditions.

"We are not opposed to Lynas, but the way they handle their operations. We applaud the government's action to ban Lynas from continuing to conduct research and development of the water leach purification (WLP) residue for agriculture purposes.

"What we are doing is not for our own sake, but for the people of Kuantan, including Lynas workers who are the closest and most likely to be exposed to the dangers of radioactive waste," he said.

- Bernama