Stop the lies over Lynas, MP tells Aussie envoy
Bentong MP Wong Tack said if Lynas’ waste was as safe as claimed, there would be no need to spend such a huge amount of money to bury it and put it under institutional control for 300 years.
PETALING JAYA: Bentong MP Wong Tack has hit back at the Australian high commissioner to Malaysia, telling him to stop manipulating facts and hiding the truth about matters involving waste from the Lynas rare earths plant.
Wong accused Andrew Goledzinowski of trying to create a false impression that the waste from Lynas was safe.
In response to Goledzinowski’s denial that his prime minister Scott Morrison had asked his then counterpart Dr Mahathir Mohamad to drop licence conditions imposed on Lynas Corp in 2019, Wong asked if this implied that Mahathir was lying.
He also questioned if Australia had bribed Malaysia to accept Lynas’ radioactive waste, putting the people’s health at risk.
Wong said Lynas had produced up to one “billion kilogrammes” worth of waste since it began operations, adding that the corporation was aiming to dump its radioactive waste in a water catchment area that served the needs of more than 700,000 households.
“If Lynas’ waste is as safe as claimed, then why the need to spend such a huge amount of money to bury it? Why the need to put it under institutional control for 300 years? Why don’t they just dump it into the South China Sea, which is just next to Lynas?”
Wong urged Goledzinowski to be more professional, instead of repeatedly spewing “half-truths” to protect Lynas’ interests.
Goledzinowski had previously said Canberra had never requested the Malaysian government to remove or change the conditions in the six-month licence the rare earths processing firm was granted on Aug 15, 2019.
According to him, all Australia had asked for was for regulatory decisions to be made based on the scientific evidence, which showed that Lynas was low-risk and well-managed.
The claims, as reported by the media, were linked to comments made by DAP’s Liew Chin Tong in his book, stating that Mahathir had wanted to sack then energy, science, technology, environment and climate change minister Yeo Bee Yin over the Lynas issue.
Wong accused Andrew Goledzinowski of trying to create a false impression that the waste from Lynas was safe.
In response to Goledzinowski’s denial that his prime minister Scott Morrison had asked his then counterpart Dr Mahathir Mohamad to drop licence conditions imposed on Lynas Corp in 2019, Wong asked if this implied that Mahathir was lying.
He also questioned if Australia had bribed Malaysia to accept Lynas’ radioactive waste, putting the people’s health at risk.
Wong said Lynas had produced up to one “billion kilogrammes” worth of waste since it began operations, adding that the corporation was aiming to dump its radioactive waste in a water catchment area that served the needs of more than 700,000 households.
“If Lynas’ waste is as safe as claimed, then why the need to spend such a huge amount of money to bury it? Why the need to put it under institutional control for 300 years? Why don’t they just dump it into the South China Sea, which is just next to Lynas?”
Wong urged Goledzinowski to be more professional, instead of repeatedly spewing “half-truths” to protect Lynas’ interests.
Goledzinowski had previously said Canberra had never requested the Malaysian government to remove or change the conditions in the six-month licence the rare earths processing firm was granted on Aug 15, 2019.
According to him, all Australia had asked for was for regulatory decisions to be made based on the scientific evidence, which showed that Lynas was low-risk and well-managed.
The claims, as reported by the media, were linked to comments made by DAP’s Liew Chin Tong in his book, stating that Mahathir had wanted to sack then energy, science, technology, environment and climate change minister Yeo Bee Yin over the Lynas issue.
During her tenure, Yeo had set new conditions for the renewal of the operating licence for the Lynas rare earths plant operating near Kuantan.
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