PSM on Lynas: Pakatan betrayed the people and environment
PUCHONG: The government’s decision to extend Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s operational licence is a betrayal to the people and the nation’s environment.
In a statement today, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) central committee member Sharan Raj said that the government was sending a wrong message to the world by allowing Lynas to continue its operations in Malaysia.
“By permitting Lynas to stay, the Pakatan Harapan government is sending a wrong signal to the world that Malaysia is willing to accept polluting industries as long they abide by the politicians’ ‘cosmetic conditions’,” he said.
Yesterday, the Cabinet announced that Lynas has been given a six-months licence extension for its rare earth processing plant in Gebeng, Pahang.
The approval came with several conditions, with a view that the plant will curb its water leach purification (WLP) waste production within four years from the granted extension.
Lynas was also instructed to construct a permanent disposal facility (PDF) for its waste in Malaysia itself, as Western Australia had firmly rejected any idea of accepting Lynas’ waste in its territory.
Hurling brickbats against the Pakatan government, Sharan Raj said that Lynas would accumulate more than 1.3 million tonnes of WLP radioactive waste and over 2 million tonnes of Neutralisation Underflow Residue (NUF) in the next four years.
“It means Malaysia will have to deal with nearly 3.38 million tonnes of chemical and radioactive waste by 2023,” he said.
Sharan Raj added that while the previous Barisan Nasional government had made it mandatory for Lynas to spend 1% of its gross sales for research and development (R&D), the current administration has boosted Lynas’s profits by demanding only 0.5% as a replacement for the R&D spending.
The PSM leader claimed that with this in effect, Lynas would stand to make an additional profit of RM4.3 million per annum from the balance 0.5%.
“With this, Lynas is expected to earn an additional RM100 million in the next 23 years,” said Sharan Raj.
He added that the previous government had granted 100% exemption on stamp duty for land acquisition and offered RM1.2 million from taxpayers’ money to Lynas.
“In essence, Malaysians lost nearly RM5 million before Lynas even went operational. This is excluding the full tax-exemption granted to Lynas for the next 12 years.
“It seems that the Pakatan government has no problems in providing financial incentives for polluters,” said Sharan Raj.
By G Vinod
