By G Lavendran. Published by Free Malaysia Today on 20 December 2012.
The Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL), a coalition of non-governmental organisations against the Lynas rare earth plan in Kuantan, has vowed to continue its legal battle against the granting of the temporary operating licence (TOL) to Lynas recently.
The group said it will go on with its campaign against Lynas despite failing to win its appeal at the Court of Appeal yesterday, against a High Court decision which refused to grant a stay on the government’s decision to award Lynas the TOL. Tan Bun Teet, an applicant to revoke the TOL and a spokesperson for SMSL, said although “we didn’t think we would win the stay on the TOL through this appeal, we had to exhaust this legal avenue to test the court system”.
“We now have three judicial review cases, all armed with strong technical and scientific evidence in court. We will fight till the end to stop Lynas,” he said in a statement. “Radiation and hazardous substances are not something one should be complacent with. Lynas will be producing a massive amount of toxic waste. Lynas has no safe plan to dispose of this waste. Lynas is now at odd with our ministers who insisted that that waste be transported out of Malaysia, which Lynas has declined. Yet the court had done nothing to halt the TOL until the waste management issue has been sorted out,” he added.
“Lynas’ suggestion to turn its radioactive waste contaminated with other hazardous substances such as chemical compounds and heavy metals [into commercially safe products] will lead to its toxic waste spreading far and wide, subjecting more innocent public to its hazards. Once again I call on concerned residents and citizens to stand together with us to do something to protect your family, investment and your future in Kuantan and in Malaysia. The government has failed in its duty of care to protect you. The choice is now in your hands to do something to reclaim your safe space here in this country,” said Tan.
Another applicant to the case, Ismail Abu Bakar, said in the same statement that SMSL was disappointed with the outcome of the appeal as the court did not take into full consideration the scientific facts and technical details provided by our experts.
“We have been informed by highly qualified and skilled independent experts that the Lynas project has many problems with pollution and waste management,” he said.
SMSL also asserted that the court has neglected to take into consideration that the two judicial review cases are aimed at nullifying the approval of the TOL. “If these cases succeed, the TOL now granted to Lynas will no longer be legally valid and Lynas’ operation stopped,” the statement said.
Ram Punusamy, a local resident and active Stop Lynas campaigner, said the court did not accept SMSL’s request for the precautionary principle to be adopted to make sure that Lynas has settled its waste management and pollution problems identified by SMSL’s experts.
The application for a judicial review case will be heard in court on Jan 29, 2013.
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