Stop Lynas , Save Malaysia !

I bet nothing could catch the eye of Malaysian more than the recent controversies surrounding Lynas’ controversies. Tempers flared, nerves wrecked, anxiety mounting as Malaysia braces itself for the dawn of the rare earth plant – which bring Malaysian down a nostalgic trip to the Tanah Merah incidents which caused thousands to suffer from leukemia and high rate of birth defects- after Lynas corporation obtained a two year temporary operating license from the Malaysia’s atomic Energy Licensing Board.

It is announced by Lynas Corporation that the Malaysian Plant will process rare earths mined in Australia at its Mount Weld project. The granting of temporary license is a boost to Lynas corporation as it seek to galvanize its operation to offset China’s dominance of the supply of rare earth material which is crucial to manufacture a range of products from smartphones to wind turbines.

The announcement spark fear among residents surrounding the area designated to build the plant and subsequently the rippling fear reached wide section of the society as it is well-known that radioactive leakages do not confined to certain areas whereby a large area of peninsular Malaysia is at risk of suffering from the dire consequences of radioactive rays should accidents happened.
In order to fully comprehend the reasons why people are so fearful when It come to radioactive material and to throw some light on the extensive damages that might ensue from radioactive leakages , it is imperative to bring to attention some of the worst nuclear accidents .
In the early morning hours of 26 April 1986, a testing error caused an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in northern Ukraine. During a radioactive fire that burned for 10 days, 190 tons of toxic materials were expelled into the atmosphere. The wind blew 70% of the radioactive material into the neighboring country of Belarus. Almost 20 years later, the people of Belarus continue to suffer medically, economically,environmentally and socially from the effects of the disaster. The explosion of the reactor at Chernobyl released 100 times more radiation than theatom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (1) At the time of the accident, about 7 million people lived in contaminated territories,including 3 million children. Until today, c ontroversy still rages over the number of deaths that should be attributed to the accident, with estimates ranging from as little as 62 all the way up to 985,000. In the Gomel region of Belarus, incidence of leukemia has increased 50% in children and adults. In addition to thyroid cancer and leukemia, UNICEF reports that between 1990 and 1994, nervous system disorders increased by 43%;cardiovascular diseases by 43%; bone and muscle disorders by 62%; and diabetes by 28%. Moreover, Swiss Medical Weekly recently published findings showing a 40% increase in all kinds of cancers in Belarus between 1990 and 2000.



I am not here to incite fear and fear mongering is not my intention. Even though rare earth plant is somehow different from nuclear plant, one stark reality stand out : that is they both are at risk of radioactive leakages. Despite the fact that Lynas and BN government has promised that the rare earth plant is safe and accident will not occur, the promises are not sufficient to pacify the general public.

The deep seated distrust toward government and Lynas is perhaps due to the flashing memory of the Tanah Merah incidents approximately 20 years ago. In the year 1992, Mitsubishi Chemicals shut down its rare earth plant in perak after residents there blamed the plant for birth defects and a high rate of leukemia cases.

Moreover, accidents are sometime unavoidable due to human error or mother nature. While Chernobyl accident can be blamed on human error, the earthquake in japan has resulted in radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant which cause extensive damages. Even when the risk of accident is low, it is not worth the risk considering the potential calamities that will be caused by radiation.

It is clear that the BN government is oblivious to its mistake in allowing Mitsubishi chemical to operate the rare earth plant in Perak by citing the overriding economic benefits that such investment will bring to Malaysia. It is commonly accept that foreign investment must be accepted with open arms to fuel the economy. However, that is not the case in Lynas’s investment. Due to the fact that Lynas will enjoy a 10 year tax break and its likelihood to employ foreigner to operate the plant for the very reason that Malaysian are not well-trained in nuclear field, the investment will only result in minor to none job creation to locals and zero tax benefits to government in a decade. Such a small benefits could not be used as a justification to allow such risky investment at the expense of human’s health and environment.

In addition, not only the temporary permits was issued by the ministry without proper consultation with the public , the public was not permitted to study the relevant documents. Moreover, opponents have raised concern the government did not give the public enough time to examine and comment on Lynas's safety plan before the Atomic Energy Licensing Board granted the temporary operating license.

It is, in my opinion, that due to the fear of radiation and lack of proper consultation that act as catalysts that spark wide protests from the people . In Feb 26, 2012, The Sun daily reported that at the Kuantan Municipal Council field here as more than 5,000 supporters of Himpunan Hijau 2.0 gathered to protest against the construction of Lynas Corporation's rare earth processing plant .

Despite the clear indication of widespread rage and anger over the granting or the license, the BN government has attempted to paint a rosy picture over the whole issue whereby the National Atomic agency has announced that 97 % of the public support Lynas’ investment from its survey while Utusan Malaysia has reported that Himpunan Hijau failed miserably from low pubic participation.

The unwillingness to listen to the people’s grievance and ignorant nature of the government is in conflict which the democratic system of government which is the pillar of Malaysia’s political system since independence and undermine the credibility and relevance of the BN government . What has happened to the maxim of governance by the people, of the people, and for the people? In democratic country, people’s voices should be heard and respected, and freedom of expression must be honored. The political tsunami in the 2008 election should be a wake-up call to the BN government that people want the government to be more transparent and accountable to the people. There are gleams of hope when the administration under Najib has announced has make a series of announcement to transform Malaysia, from the Government Transformation program to Key Performance Indicator. However, the refusal of government to listen to the people in the Lynas’ controversies shows that slogan remain slogan and has not been translated into concrete action.

People’s patience has a limit and when it come to a boiling point in the coming election, BN government will regret their action and the only remedy at that time is to lick its wound and hope that it has not acted in the way it had.