Australian rare earths company Lynas held back by public opposition in Malaysia
the expanding protest movement …… has already delayed the project by eight months and cast a shadow over its future.
The resistance – fed by social networks and Malaysia’s increasingly lively independent online media – also raises broader questions over the global expansion of an industry that has created huge environmental problems in China
Opponents say the Lynas plant doesn’t meet with best practice standards for the industry as it is too close to heavily populated areas and in a place where the ground water level is high. Molycorp’s plant in California, by comparison, is situated far from residential areas in an arid climate.
Citizen backlash keeps Malaysia rare earth plant on hold, The West, Siva Sithraputhran, Reuters May 9, 2012 GEBENG, Malaysia – The expensive machinery lies silent, idling as Malaysia’s government weighs a delicate decision to allow shipments of raw material to arrive from Australia and finally start operations at the world’s largest rare earths plant outside China.
At the industrial estate on the country’s east coast, 20 or so
protesters gathered in the searing afternoon heat have begun a chant.
“No to Lynas. Lynas go home!”.
The handful of demonstrators seems an unlikely obstacle to plans by
Australia’s Lynas Corp to build its company-making 2.5 billion ringgit
(495.63 million pounds) plant, seen as crucial to challenging China’s
near monopoly on the production of rare earths, used in items ranging
from smartphones to smart bombs.
But the expanding protest movement they represent, feeding off broader
frustrations with Malaysia’s government as elections loom, has already
delayed the project by eight months and cast a shadow over its future.
The resistance – fed by social networks and Malaysia’s increasingly lively independent online media – also raises broader questions over the global expansion of an industry that has created huge environmental problems in China, which currently accounts for about 95
percent of global supply.
“Western countries don’t want it. Why should we in Malaysia?,” said
Norizan Mokhtar, who lives less than 10 km (6 miles) from the plant in
the industrial area of Gebeng, close to fishing villages and Kuantan,
a city of half a million people.
“My youngest is six, the effects might not be seen now but in the
future. We eat fish everyday, what if there is radiation?”
She’s afraid controls on the plant will become slack after the first
few years….
China imposed export quotas in 2009 to fight pollution caused by
illegal mining and processing, turning up the pressure to find
alternative sources…….
The Malaysian protest movement gathered strength last year after
allegations – denied by Lynas – that it was cutting corners on safety,
fanning fears that radioactive run-off from waste material stored at
the plant could seep into the local water system after being
chemically treated.
An estimated 8,000 people rallied against Lynas in Kuantan in February
and the issue has been seized on by the country’s opposition to show
the government is out of touch with citizens’ concerns.
Malaysia’s government at first showed few signs of heeding the
protesters’ concerns, but it appears to have been caught off-guard
this year by the strength of opposition to the plant as it prepares
for a closely run election within months.
Pahang, the state where the plant is being built, is a key stronghold
for the long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition that it can ill-afford
to lose. Responding to lobbying by citizens’ groups, the government
set up a parliamentary select committee in March to look into the
safety of the plant, after halting a conditional temporary operating
license granted in February.
A decision is expected after the committee presents its findings at
the end of June……
Lynas officials say they are confident the plant will win approval in
coming months. Opponents suspect the government is waiting until after
the election to approve the plant at a less sensitive time.
“The timing could be all too convenient,” said Fuziah Salleh, a local
opposition member of parliament who has thrown her weight behind the
protest movement. “Basically it is a delay tactic until approval.”
Fuziah and leaders of the protest movement “Stop Lynas, Save Malaysia”
say they will continue to fight against Lynas in the court if it wins
approval, signalling more uncertainty ahead.
The opposition – which made historic gains in 2008 polls and has an
outside chance of winning the next election – has said it will scrap
the Lynas project altogether if it takes government.
TAINTED HISTORY
Opponents say the Lynas plant doesn’t meet with best practice standards for the industry as it is too close to heavily populated areas and in a place where the ground water level is high. Molycorp’s plant in California, by comparison, is situated far from residential areas in an arid climate.
“There never was any public consultation before the building of the
plant got underway. I faced resistance from the start,” said
Fuziah…… it isn’t clear how long the waste matter will be stored
at the plant. Lynas says its storage facility has been built to a
standard that would allow the waste to be stored permanently, although
it only expects storage for 17 or 18 years. It hopes to sell the waste
as a base for road construction after reducing its radioactivity
concentration to safe levels.
Treated waste water from the plant will go into the Balok river at an
average rate of 213 cubic metres (7500 cubic feet) per hour, raising
concerns about the impact on marine life and on the livelihoods of the
fishermen along the coast. ……
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