July 22, 2011
HARAKAHDAILY EXCLUSIVE Jul 22: "In their country, there is a buffer zone requirement of 30km away from the rare earth factory, but here, if anything happens, the whole of Kuantan will be affected as the factory is only 25km away from town."
The Lynas refinery under construction
The above comment by a resident in Kuantan underlines the fear among the public over Australian-based firm Lynas's rare earth refinery project in the Gebeng Industrial area, just 25 km from Kuantan.
Many activists have organised various campaigns to stop Lynas from going ahead with its project. Once such movement, “Save Malaysia – Stop Lynas” has been gaining momentum.
A similar rare earth plant in Bukit Merah in Perak was ordered to be closed by the High Court in 1992 after local residents protested citing cases of still-born babies as well as those born with abnormalities attributed to radioactive exposure.
For two decades, both Mitsubishi and Malaysia have been paying the price for the Bukit Merah fiasco, costing some RM300 million to clean up the closed plant.
However, the fact that a large section of the campaigners were Malaysian Chinese prompted a remark by PAS president Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang, who said the lack of sensitivity shown by Malays on the issue was due to the Malay mainstream media's zealousness in defending the government on every issue.
Hadi conceded that details about the plant had been hazy earlier on, resulting in a meek response from some quarters.
"But now that we are well-informed of the project, we will not sit idle and will oppose it," he told Harakahdaily.
Not in isolation
A recent visit by Harakahdaily to Lynas Advance Materials Plant (LAMPS) revealed a deep sense of anxiety and fear among nearby residents.
The building housing the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, hardly 5km from the plant, the distance recommended in the EIA report
The plant itself is not isolated and located among other factories such as Polyplastics, BASF Petronas Chemicals and Palmoil Industrial Clusters, and is said to be 65 percent complete, although some said it was 90 percent complete. The original completion date was actually March 2011.
Just across the road is the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency.
A road sign to the plant's construction site also Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd and UGL Resources, the main company in Australia specialising in assets and projects management boasting some 42,000 employees.
Both have been awarded the contract in February last year to manage the development of Lynas plant with a cost of RM96.8 million and are responsible for the engineering design of the plant. Lynas's 
infrastructure in Gebeng alone costs RM700 million, and is fully owned by Lynas Australia.
Major concerns
Once functional, rare earth elements harvested in Australia will be brought to Kuantan's port by ships, which will then be transferred using lorries to the plant to be processed before being exported.
Some of the concerns among the public here can be summarised as follows:
1. The rare earth materials are tiny substances containing radioactive materials. It is very dangerous if swallowed or inhaled through air.
2. During the processing of rare earth, the hydrochloric and sulphuric acid is used - both are hazardous when released into the atmosphere.
3. The process of refining rare earth uses a lot of water, and the water is supposed to be treated before it is let out to Sungai Gebeng. However, todate, there have be no details forthcoming on water treatment plans, nor any explanation of what would happen if treatment of the water is incomplete.
4. Another major concern is how Lynas disposes the radioactive wastes.
Amdan Sura (standing) with other fellow Badar activists
These four concerns, together with many other worries, have riled up residents in Beserah, Gebeng and Kuantan, who have set up up various NGOs to oppose the plant.
Besides “Save Malaysia – Stop Lynas”, another group called Badar, sent a memorandum of protest to International Trade and Industry ministry to protest the ministry’s approval for the project.
They also sought help from PAS's legal bureau to find legal means to stop Lynas.
http://en.harakah.net.my/index.php/berita-utama/3189-kuantan-folks-live-in-fear-under-lynass-shadow.html
No comments:
Post a Comment