Is it worth having Lynas in Malaysia?
Is it worth having Lynas in Malaysia?
According to one of the chief defenders of the Lynas facility, Minister of Entrepreneur Development Mohd Redzuan Yusof, of flying car fame, he commented that Lynas’s investment was “too big to ignore”.
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Malaysian flying car "... made in Japan"? wakakaka |
It is unfortunate then that a minister, catapulted into power by the people no less, is willing to prostitute the health and safety of Malaysians in the name of money.
For Redzuan, nothing is sacred – he is even willing to bring in the race card to defend Lynas, stating that there is “already significant Bumiputera participation in rare earth processing through Lynas, where more than 90% of the staff are Malays”.
Even Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is fiercely defensive towards the continued operation of the facility.
Despite increased public outcry, Dr Mahathir dismissed the concerns about Lynas – going as far to compare it to the Chernobyl disaster of 1989 – stating that the dangers posed by the facilities far dwarfs those posed by the infamous nuclear incident.
Suddenly, it seems everything is at risk when it comes to Lynas, from good relations with Australia and Japan, the billions in supposed new investments and the Bumiputera agenda.
Unfortunately, isn’t the first time that Malaysia – and Dr Mahathir himself – has faced a problem with radioactive rare earth.
The Asia Rare Earth Sdn Bhd (ARE, a company owned by Mitsubishi Chemicals) incident in Bukit Merah, Perak, during the 1980s, which involved rare earth and radioactive waste is surprisingly rarely mentioned.
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when once Malaysia had sucked up to Japan |
The aftereffects of the ARE facility are still felt today, despite more than RM300 million spent cleaning up its waste.
It is estimated that Bukit Merah community will have one case of leukaemia every three years as a result of radioactivity.
So why is Lynas so important for the Pakatan Harapan government?
Environmental concerns notwithstanding, the Lynas plant plays a crucial role in the global rare earths supply chain – an important resource for everyday electronics such as smartphones and lightbulbs.
With China possessing a near-monopoly on global rare earth processing capacity, you might assume that Dr Mahathir is attempting to raise Malaysia’s international standing.
Japan, which is one of the world’s key importers of rare earth materials, is a major financial backer of Lynas (given the recent announcement that Lynas would supply Japan 7,200 tonnes of rare earths a year until 2038) and is also seen as being actively involved in lobbying for the corporation.
Surely it cannot be pure coincidence that Dr Mahathir gave his unconditional support for Lynas to continue to operate in Malaysia during a recent visit to Tokyo.
However, this is not worth the 50,000 to 70,000 lives that may be affected if any environmental catastrophe occurs at the Lynas facility.
Aside from serving as a chess piece in the game of global powers, what actual benefits does this facility provide the government?
Will foreign governments suddenly see Malaysia as a key player in global politics – just because we are willing to let foreign countries store waste that even the most developed countries refuse to take up?
If we are really serious about foreign investment, surely there are better initiatives that are worth considering? How about Iskandar Malaysia and Forest City?
Its economic benefits are also considerable, and at least do not deal with toxic waste.
There is a significant presence of foreign companies, with Singapore being the largest investor in Iskandar Malaysia followed by the United States, Spain, Japan and China.
It also potentially will serve as a key growth region for the state, and through Forest City – it already provides jobs for more than 1,350 local families and is set to provide more than 220,000 job opportunities in 2035.
The government cannot afford to compromise on the issue of toxic waste. This is the chance for the government to prove that it can put vested interests aside for the sake of the health and safety of the Malaysian people.
There is no need for another Pasir Gudang.
* Shafiq Abdullah reads The Malaysian Insight
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racists and Lynas |
Forest City, like most Real Estate developments, provide a one-time economic benefit to the country and region. The profits, in this case, go back to the China developer, Greenland.
ReplyDelete90% of the construction jobs provided are foreign workers.
If, and a BIG IF, after the project completion, the area serves as a catalyst hub for local economic activities, the way Sime Darby's Subang UEP developed, then it has a permanent economic boost to the community.
In the case of Forest City this is doubtful , with 90% of the buyers China citizens, not even conscious investors , "packaged" with purchases of property in China.
The making of another China "ghost city" , just that it is in Malaysia ?
Wakakakaka…
DeleteChina "ghost city"!!!
Wow… u do believe in those western medias concorted urban legends.
Suggest u update yrself with the latest infos on all these China "ghost city" mentioned.
Have u EVER been thinking about why that China "ghost city" news disappeared like a water droplet flashes in a hot pan, from all those western medias?
Check out how populous is Ordos, the most quoted China "ghost city" by the western medias. Check out XiongAn, the latest planned megacity to supplement Beijing's boiling over socio-administrative issues!
Just a caution, don't read those reports from any media's, western or Chinese. Target those independent travellers who r curious/enthralled by those China "ghost city" reports & went there to find out for themselves!
There is absolutely credible evidence that a nuclear power station has the seeds of an environmental catastrophe.
ReplyDeleteThat why is I am 100% opposed to Malaysia building a Nuclear power station.
It is worth noting that Ah Mok is on record supporting Najib's then-plan for a nuclear power station.
I have repeatedly requested Lunas opponents - and they are among people I know well - where is the credible science that LAMPS is an environmental disaster in the making. I get Kerbau deflections that they are not scientists.
The author above throws around a figure of 50,000 to 70,000 lives...where from ?
Don't throw in ARE to confuse the issue. Mount Weld orrle is not monazite, and unlike ARE, there is no evidence LAMPS chemical process concentrates the radioactivity. I have not seen it, and LYNAS opponents are unable to provide the evidence.
stop kerbau-ing to earn your pro Mahathir dedak. A properly run nuclear power station like the ones operated by France (58 of them) is zillion miles ahead in safety to a Lynas type of used radioactive ore left lying around
DeleteAccording to net info, future reactor technologies –- so-called “Gen IV” designs – offer even better inherent safety. One of their key features are fully passive cooling systems so the reactor is never dependent on external power for safety. The reactor is carefully designed so that overheating actually reduces, rather than increases, the power output of the core. The core and cooling systems are not pressurised, and using liquids other than water for cooling prevents the risk of creating hydrogen: both of which drastically reduce the risk of explosions as occurred at Fukushima.
Lynas is NOT a nuclear operating plant but a mining company set to refine rare earths, which means its process leaves behind radioactive waste
you should be ashamed of kerbauing (for dedak) just to confuse people
Don't throw in ARE to confuse the issue.
DeleteWhat confusion is there?
Mount Weld ore is not monazite.
Of course lah, the ore is different. But the refined residues r definitely containing radioactive thorium/uranium! The same residual products as in ARE.
There is no evidence LAMPS chemical process concentrates the radioactivity.
Then, why r the WLP radioactive? Though aelb claimed that the level of radioactivity is the same as current background level around Gebeng!
Wasn't that the similar story aelb given for the scheduled waste of ARE?
Wakakakakaka… arrhh IAEA supports the radioactivity 'safety' level of the lamp operation too!
Have u heard what mamak said about the country’s poverty level by UN special rapporteur Prof Phillip Alston.
"How could we have taken serious about a finding by a foreign visiting professional who stays in posh hotel, going round the country in nice car for a few days, about his understanding of the country's overall poverty level?"
Sama2!! Right?
BTW, in the case of lamp, the site measurements/readings r not done by these IAEA personnel. They r given the data by aelb!
Called to mind, in the later day of ARE debacle, the foreign experts invited by the locals, actually went to the site & did the measurements themselves! Their findings turned aelb's data into jamban material & thus leading to Mitsubishi closing ARE voluntary!
Apart from dangers of a major accident during their operation, all the nuclear power stations produce thousands of tons of INTENSELY and Long-lived radioactive waste. None of the countries have a real solution this INTENSELY radioactive waste which will remain deadly for thousand of years.
DeleteBy contrast, the IAEA report states that the LAMPS waste is just a very small bit higher than background radiation.
The 2014 IAEA Report states: “The radiological risks to members of the public and to the environment, associated with the operation of Lynas Advanced Material Plant, are intrinsically low.
“This finding does not come as a surprise as this is the case already observed in many industries that process NORM.”
I prefer the authoritative science to the emotional, and in Ah Mok's case Dedak-driven attack by any and all means of the the protestors.
So u prefer authoritative science to the emotive.
DeleteFine!
But, where's the foundation of the science u so gamingly used?
Don't JUST quote! State with REAL unadulterated data lah!
Let me give u a real science finding on radiation effect on human physiology that is still in the infancy state.
LED has been commonly & popularly used as a lighting source nowadays.
It's also a known science that led emits a distinct blue spectrum spike together with the other colours. Blue light, especially those transparent (due to common mixing with other colours to form white light) has a known abnormal impact on human eyesight, brain activities. The impacts r known but the long term effect to human physiology is still unknown!
Sun light, in fact most other naturally sources, has no such distinct blue spike in its spectrum. & Human has adapted to that low level blue ray, intertwined within other colours, over the evolution.
But the current high level & intense blue spike (that's the reason why led light is brightly white) emit by the led IS definitely harmful to human physiology. The first sign of that trouble is falling eyesight & early stage cataracts! Distorted sleep pattern too!
Thus, just bcoz u DON'T known/care or the science is still in its infancy state, u think led is an energy efficient light source best known to human development!
BTW, light IS also a form of radiation!
So why is Lynas so important for the Pakatan Harapan government?
ReplyDeleteSimple - the melayu agenda lah!
The VERY short-sighted one! Since the current mischievous proposers/supporters would have long faded into the pages of bolihland sopo history.
Once the incidents of leukaemia occur as a result of radioactivity, same as in the Bukit Merah ARE debacle, then the headless cockroach cries/actions repeat themselves. Perhaps, pulling God's will as an added excuse!
What kind of f*cked melayu agenda when u have 90% of the melayu workers having a statistically higher accumulative risk for radioactive related diseases?
Or is there a conspiracy to send these blur-sotongs happily to their early graves with genetic deformations lasting through the generations to come!