The conditions are nebulous and in reality don't amount to anything substantial, other than 'iffy' promises This capati will be the death knell for the DAP and PKR Now read the latest FMT news:
Renewal of Lynas licence prompts questions from activist
The Lynas rare earths processing plant at the Gebeng industrial estate in Kuantan. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: An environmentalist has asked the government to explain what it will do if Lynas Corp fails to meet the conditions it has set for extending the company’s licence to operate its rare earths processing factory in Gebeng.
“How will Lynas be penalised?” said Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) president Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil in an interview with FMT.
The Atomic Energy Licensing Board announced yesterday it was renewing Lynas’ licence for six months on condition that it move its cracking and leaching process out of the country and that it identify a site on which to construct a permanent disposal facility.
Shariffa Sabrina also asked how the government would monitor Lynas to ensure compliance with the conditions and what would happen to the radioactive water leach purification residue currently stored at a temporary facility.
“And what happens after the six months have passed?”
She said the government’s insistence that Lynas move its cracking and leaching facility had “put to rest any argument that the waste materials generated are not harmful” to humans and the natural environment.
“Peka views this development as a vindication of what environmental groups and other objectors to Lynas have been highlighting. Lynas is detrimental to our environment and should cease operations in Malaysia.”
She said Lynas, if it was sincere about allaying environmental concerns, would not only comply with the conditions but would “go beyond the stated measures” to put the concerns to rest.
“Unfortunately, the company remains adamant that its operations are safe and do not harm the environment in any way.
“We therefore urge the government to step up its efforts to bring this environmental issue to a close by not issuing another renewal after the six-month period is up, and by terminating all activities by Lynas before an environmental disaster happens.”
Should anything go wrong with Lynas, she added, it would dwarf recent environmental disasters such as the pollution of Sungai Kim Kim in Johor.
“Its negative impact will be much more severe and longer lasting than any tragedy we have faced before and it is something Malaysians must avoid at all costs,” she said. “We must learn our lesson before it is too late.”
Another activist, Ecotourism and Conservation Society CEO Andrew Sebastian, denounced the government for reneging on its election promise to stop Lynas from operating in Malaysia.
He said it was now up to civic groups to take the government to task.
He proposed that NGOs insist on being involved in identifying a permanent disposal facility for Lynas’ waste and said they and anti-Lynas MPs should protest to get the government to agree to this.
“We must ensure no more leeway concessions are given to Lynas if it’s unable to follow through on the conditions that have been set,” he said.
“We cannot trust the government of the day anymore.”
I warned DAP during their fact-free all out campaign against Lynas back in 2011, that the issue would come back to haunt them.
Branding Lynas as producing highly radioactive waste was attention grabbing and won them votes, but it wasn't supported by the facts.
The AELB has clearly stated a) The normal background radiation in the Kuantan area is less than 0.2 µSv/hr b) There has been no increase in background levels in Kuantan in the 6 years that Lynas has operated
So simply labelling the waste from the Lynas operations "radioactive waste" is not a scientific fact. Just for the consumption of gullible believers.
The fact is , simply shutting down Lynas would amount to arbitrary , gratuitous politicking by the Pakatan Harapan government , and gravely damage Malaysia's reputation as a destination for Foreign Direct Investment. And to what purpose ?
Nobody in Kuantan or Malaysia is going to get any safer or healthier simply by kicking Lynas out.
Why DON'T u mention about the lost of 4000+ jobs (mainly melayu) when lynas is been shutdowned?
That the ONLY short term reason that moron like u want lynas to stay.
Given time, u people will be cursing & crying when the radioactive sickness starts. Just like in Papan!
ALEB! Haha! They couldn't even explain why the ARE refined residual waste turned into highly radioactive! The measured level of the background radioactivity suddenly changed from the mild monazite level to highly toxic!
The same AELB issued a license to ARE, claiming that they & a team of foreign experts had performed a research, which resulted in declaring that the radiation levels of the factory is safe for operation!
The horror story will be just like ARE.
On the 19th January 1994, ARE announced the closure of their factory. However, there were still 80,000 liters of radioactive waste in barrels stored within the Kledang mountain range. Cleanup operations costing more than RM300 million are still ongoing, even after 20 years. According to the New York Times, workers have moved 11,000 truckloads of radioactive waste, including old containers. Even contaminated land, going as deep as 25 feet, have been dug up and moved.
But where have they been moving the waste to? In a hole in a mountain 3 miles away from a forest reserve, of course. The waste was buried in the mountain’s core and was trapped beneath 20 feet of clay and granite.
Why need to worry about a 'claimed' low level radioactive waste in such a elaborated precaution?
Obviously, some body had been sleeping in their job!
By the, DON'T u people rest this case as Insaf Allah. It god will curse u!
4 years is Lynas' exit strategy. Toonsie fell for it.
Lynas now building a rare earths processing plant in Texas, USA. They need 4 years to get it up and running. This plant may well replace the one in Gebeng.
The processing plant in WA meant to take out the radioactive component before shipping out of Australia is needed anyway; the US also won't take in radioactive stuff.
Co-incidentally 4 years is when the tax-free period that the BN government gave them runs out...
Pahang will be left with a couple of million tonnes of radioactive waste...
QUOTE Lynas to build rare earths processing plant in the US Australian company looks to capitalise on supply concerns amid China trade war
Jamie Smyth in Sydney MAY 20, 2019
Australia’s Lynas Corp is forming a joint venture with a Texas-based rare earths company to build a processing plant in the US, looking to capitalise on a gap in the US supply chain for raw materials critical to the electronics and energy industry.
Lynas, which controls just over 10 per cent of the global rare earths market, said on Monday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Blue Line Corporation to build a rare earths separation facility in Hondo, Texas.
The plant would be the only large-scale producer of separated medium and heavy rare earth products in the world outside of China, it said.
Jon Blumenthal, president and chief executive of Blue Line Corporation, said: “We are looking forward to working with Lynas to provide a secure source of rare earth materials to both US and international markets, and using our technical expertise to produce raw materials for uses in green and other high tech industries.”
Lynas currently ships ore mined in Western Australia for processing at a plant in Malaysia, although this facility does not have heavy rare earths separating capacity — and its future is uncertain due to concerns expressed by the Malaysian government over low-level radioactive waste produced by the facility.
The Texas joint venture comes as the bruising trade war between the US and China has raised fears about US industries’ reliance on Chinese supplies of rare earths. Chinese companies control about 85 per cent of the global rare earths industry. UNQUOTE
I warned DAP during their fact-free all out campaign against Lynas back in 2011, that the issue would come back to haunt them.
ReplyDeleteBranding Lynas as producing highly radioactive waste was attention grabbing and won them votes, but it wasn't supported by the facts.
The AELB has clearly stated
a) The normal background radiation in the Kuantan area is less than 0.2 µSv/hr
b) There has been no increase in background levels in Kuantan in the 6 years that Lynas has operated
So simply labelling the waste from the Lynas operations "radioactive waste" is not a scientific fact. Just for the consumption of gullible believers.
The fact is , simply shutting down Lynas would amount to arbitrary , gratuitous politicking by the Pakatan Harapan government , and gravely damage Malaysia's reputation as a destination for Foreign Direct Investment.
And to what purpose ?
Nobody in Kuantan or Malaysia is going to get any safer or healthier simply by kicking Lynas out.
Why DON'T u mention about the lost of 4000+ jobs (mainly melayu) when lynas is been shutdowned?
DeleteThat the ONLY short term reason that moron like u want lynas to stay.
Given time, u people will be cursing & crying when the radioactive sickness starts. Just like in Papan!
ALEB! Haha! They couldn't even explain why the ARE refined residual waste turned into highly radioactive! The measured level of the background radioactivity suddenly changed from the mild monazite level to highly toxic!
The same AELB issued a license to ARE, claiming that they & a team of foreign experts had performed a research, which resulted in declaring that the radiation levels of the factory is safe for operation!
The horror story will be just like ARE.
On the 19th January 1994, ARE announced the closure of their factory. However, there were still 80,000 liters of radioactive waste in barrels stored within the Kledang mountain range. Cleanup operations costing more than RM300 million are still ongoing, even after 20 years. According to the New York Times, workers have moved 11,000 truckloads of radioactive waste, including old containers. Even contaminated land, going as deep as 25 feet, have been dug up and moved.
But where have they been moving the waste to? In a hole in a mountain 3 miles away from a forest reserve, of course. The waste was buried in the mountain’s core and was trapped beneath 20 feet of clay and granite.
Why need to worry about a 'claimed' low level radioactive waste in such a elaborated precaution?
Obviously, some body had been sleeping in their job!
By the, DON'T u people rest this case as Insaf Allah. It god will curse u!
4 years is Lynas' exit strategy. Toonsie fell for it.
ReplyDeleteLynas now building a rare earths processing plant in Texas, USA. They need 4 years to get it up and running. This plant may well replace the one in Gebeng.
The processing plant in WA meant to take out the radioactive component before shipping out of Australia is needed anyway; the US also won't take in radioactive stuff.
Co-incidentally 4 years is when the tax-free period that the BN government gave them runs out...
Pahang will be left with a couple of million tonnes of radioactive waste...
QUOTE
Lynas to build rare earths processing plant in the US
Australian company looks to capitalise on supply concerns amid China trade war
Jamie Smyth in Sydney MAY 20, 2019
Australia’s Lynas Corp is forming a joint venture with a Texas-based rare earths company to build a processing plant in the US, looking to capitalise on a gap in the US supply chain for raw materials critical to the electronics and energy industry.
Lynas, which controls just over 10 per cent of the global rare earths market, said on Monday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Blue Line Corporation to build a rare earths separation facility in Hondo, Texas.
The plant would be the only large-scale producer of separated medium and heavy rare earth products in the world outside of China, it said.
Jon Blumenthal, president and chief executive of Blue Line Corporation, said: “We are looking forward to working with Lynas to provide a secure source of rare earth materials to both US and international markets, and using our technical expertise to produce raw materials for uses in green and other high tech industries.”
Lynas currently ships ore mined in Western Australia for processing at a plant in Malaysia, although this facility does not have heavy rare earths separating capacity — and its future is uncertain due to concerns expressed by the Malaysian government over low-level radioactive waste produced by the facility.
The Texas joint venture comes as the bruising trade war between the US and China has raised fears about US industries’ reliance on Chinese supplies of rare earths. Chinese companies control about 85 per cent of the global rare earths industry.
UNQUOTE