Hunger Protest 100: Hazardous projects hunger strike 27 Dec 2012

By K Pragalath. Published by Free Malaysia Today on 27 December 2012.

A pro-environment group called Malaysian Youth Against Public Hazards (MYAP) is organising a hunger strike tonight at Dataran Merdeka to raise awareness against hazardous projects. The group had identified five projects – Lynas Rare Earth Plant, Bukit Koman Cyanide Gold Mining, Pengerang Oil Refinery, Sarawak Mega Dams project and the Rawang High Tension Cable. However, MYAP’s two immediate demands were focused on Lynas.

They are demanding for an end to Lynas’ temporary operating license (TOL) since there is data to show risk to public health and environment whereas their second demand is for a proper Detailed Environment Impact Assessment (DEIA) to be done and made public before a TOL is issued.

The hunger strike is called Hunger Protest 100. The 100 refers to the number of hours that the hunger strike would be held. The protest, which begins at 8pm, would end on the stroke of midnight on Jan 1, 2013. MYAP spokesperson and team leader Tan Woen Tien told FMT that at the time of writing 18 participants had confirmed their participation.

Student activist Adam Adli and PKR affiliated NGO Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia would be participating as well. “Hospital Kuala Lumpur has been notified. In addition, a St John’s Ambulance will be stationed nearby,” said Tan.

According to MYAP’s Facebook page, non-Muslim participants would only consume water throughout the fasting period whereas Muslim participants would be fasting from dawn to sunset. During the strike, several speakers were scheduled to deliver speeches. Bersih steering committee member Wong Chin Huat is expected to start the ball rolling tonight with a talk entitled, “Would it be possible for Mat Kilau to accept Lynas?”

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan would be giving a talk tomorrow. Meanwhile, Tan said another environment group Himpunan Hijau leader, Wong Tack, would be organising the “people’s congress to allow the people to decide the type of development that they want."

Link: 

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/12/27/hazardous-projects-hunger-strike-tonight/

Stop Lynas group vows to fight on

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.

Link: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/12/20/stop-lynas-group-vows-to-fight-on/

Whatever Australia does not want, dumps into Malaysia

Published by Free Malaysia Today on 11 October 2012.

Shares in Lynas Corp Ltd plunged 19% today as it faced another delay in opening its rare earths plant in Malaysia, raising the prospect the company may need to shore up its funding with a share sale. A Malaysian court yesterday extended a hold on the Australian company’s operating licence to Nov 8 while it decides whether to consider a review aimed at permanently blocking production at the US$800 million (RM2.5 billion) plant in Kuantan, Pahang, on the east coast.

Lynas received the temporary operating licence in September for the rare earths plant, the biggest outside China. It had aimed to start production this month, processing material from its Mount Weld mine in Western Australia, but said yesterday that would be delayed and gave no new timetable for the opening.

Its shares fell to a six-week low of A$0.69 in early trade and last traded down 16% at A$0.72, reflecting worries that the company will need to raise equity to shore up its funds the longer the delay runs. “Given the current delays, we believe the core tenet for our argument to sell Lynas is still applicable – namely risks surrounding funding, dilution, commission and waste disposal solution,” Foster Stockbroking said in a note to clients today.

Foster estimated the company, which had A$124 million in unrestricted cash as of June 30, would have only A$20 million in working capital available if the plant starts operating in November, and said it would probably need to raise funds through a sale of new shares. Lynas had A$205 million in total cash at June 30, but A$81 million of this can only be used for a future expansion of the plant.

Activists linked to the environmental group Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) want the court to suspend the licence until two judicial review cases challenging the government’s decision allowing the plant to operate are heard. Lynas had hoped to open the plant a year ago, but has been delayed by community protests. The company says that its plant is safe and is not comparable to a rare-earths plant in Malaysia that was shut by a unit of Mitsubishi Chemicals in 1992, after residents there blamed the plant for birth defects and a high rate of leukemia cases.

Link: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2012/10/11/lynas-shares-dive-19-on-rare-earths-plant-delay/

Another report: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/aussie-surgeons-malaysian-killer-to-be-sent-home-sydney-court-rules/

The Malaysian man who shot dead renowned Australian heart surgeon Dr Victor Chang in Sydney over two decades ago in a botched extortion attempt will be released on parole, after a Sydney court rejected an attempt by New South Wales Attorney-General Greg Smith to keep him behind bars.

Bernama reported that Liew Chiew Seng, who fired the fatal shots in a failed extortion attempt in 1991, was granted parole by the State Parole Authority last month. He was due to be deported to Malaysia by yesterday, but Smith had immediately appealed the decision. The case was dismissed today by the New South Wales Supreme Court.

Lawyers for Smith argued that to release Liew would “expunge” him of the remaining five years of his maximum sentence, because there would not be supervision for him in Malaysia. Liew, 69, is suffering from Parkinson’s disease and the parole authority was told earlier this year that time might be running out for him to leave Australia before he could no longer travel safely. He has been kept in the Long Bay jail in Sydney for more than a year past his 20-year minimum prison term.

The parole authority formed the intention to grant parole at a private hearing in May. The Serious Offender’s Review Council (SORC) and the Probation and Parole Service (PPS) both believe Liew will be unfit to travel if his health deteriorates further. A SORC report said Liew “was not sentenced to die in a NSW Correctional Centre. The overall fragility of his condition cannot be denied.”

The PPS report said it was “impossible to ignore Mr Liew’s deteriorating physical and mental health ... there is ongoing concern it will also continue to have a detrimental impact on Mr Liew’s capacity to return to Malaysia upon release”.

Liew was sentenced to a maximum 26 years in prison for firing the two shots that killed Dr Chang in a failed extortion attempt at Mosman on July 4, 1991. His partner in the murder, and the offender who provided the gun, Phillip Choon Tee Lim, was deported to Malaysia in 2010 after serving 18 years of his maximum 24-year sentence.

Australia’s first successful heart transplant was carried out by Dr Chang in 1984 and he was also voted Australian of the Century in 2000.

Penans continue with Murum Dam blockade

By Joseph Tawie. Published by Free Malaysia Today on 10 October 2012.

The Penans have not dismantled their blockades against the Murum Dam construction despite reports appearing in the local dailies that they had done so. “The reports are all wrong, because the Penans are still there at the blockade sites,” said Raymond Abin, national coordinator of Sarawak Conservation for Natural Environment (SCANE). “I have just returned from the blockade sites,” he told FMT.

According to Abin, the Penan representatives met with Liwan Lagang, Assistant Minister of Culture and Heritage in Bintulu last week who promised them that each of the eight villages involved in the blockade would receive RM6,000 if they dismantled the blockade.

Lagang, who is also the Belaga state assemblyman, said that he would advance them with RM1,000 so that they could go to Kuching to discuss with the government their demands. The demands include compensation of RM500,000 for each family for the loss of their native customary rights land and 25 hectares of land for each of the families for farming activities and 300,000 hectares for their ‘pemakai menua’ (territorial domain).

In Kuching they were supposed to receive the RM6,000.

Abin said that the headmen told him that they did not believe that Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud would take them seriously. Instead of the headmen going to Kuching, they sent their young representatives. “When the Penan representatives went to Kuching, Lagang would have thought the blockades would have been dismantled. “Here he was wrong when he told the press that the blockades had been dismantled,” he said.

Negotiations in deadlock

Meanwhile, it is reported that the meeting between the Penan representatives and the government ended in a deadlock. It is understood that the Penan representatives would go to Kuala Lumpur to meet with the federal leaders regarding their demands.

The blockade was carried out on Sept 26 when the government failed to inform them of their future well-being and their demands. Last Thursday, the Penans put up another blockade at another road to the dam site. The blockades were mounted by the Penans from the villages of Long Wat, Long Luar, Long Tangau, Long Menapa, Long Singu and Long Malim, Long Peran and Long Jaik villages together with a Kenyah-Badeng village of Long Umpa. The blockades have paralysed work on the dam as scores of trucks and lorries loaded with building materials have been stranded.

The Sarawak government  has awarded the contract works of the Murum Dam project to China’s Three Gorges Project Corporation at an estimated cost of RM3 billion. The progress of the construction work on the major structures of the dam is about 70% complete. When completed the Murum Dam will flood about 24,500 hectares of native customary rights land and forest.

The dam catchment area is 275,000 hectares which comprise mainly Pelieran, Danum and Usun Apau Plateau, the ancestral land of the indigenous communities in Sarawak. The Murum Dam project is scheduled to be ready by 2013.

Link: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/10/10/penans-continue-with-murum-blockade/

Goverment’s valuation ‘too conservative’

By Leven Woon. Published by Free Malaysia Today on 7 September 2012.

Upset Pengerang landowners will engage a surveyor to revalue their properties following the state government's shocking compensation of RM2.50 per sq ft.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/09/07/govt%E2%80%99s-valuation-too-conservative-says-surveyor/

An independent surveyor has backed Pengerang residents in their demand for higher compensation for their demolition-bound homes. According to a land surveying firm director Tan Beng Sooi, the valuations offered by the authorities – RM2.50 and RM4.50 per sq foot – were too conservative. He said the figures did not reflect the full potential of the land.

“It is very low, and to my understanding, the valuation was done before October 2011. They did not take into account the current market value,” said the Johor-Baru based surveyor. More than 50 residents from Kampung Sungai Kapal, Kampung Jawa and Kampung Teluk Empang were the first batch of some 30,000 affected people to receive the land valuation offer.

The offer was made to them at a public hearing in Desaru on Monday. It was the first time they were told about the price offered. Their properties are to be acquired for the contentious RM60 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID), a project spearheaded by Petronas.

Fuming at the shockingly cheap offer, the residents said they would engage a lawyer and surveyor to revalue their properties. Tan, in a valuation report done for Pengerang earlier this year, had pointed out that the properties should be priced between RM12 per sq ft and RM15 per sq ft.

Six weeks to decide

When contacted yesterday, he expressed surprise at the figures offered by the Johor government and district land office. “Earlier this year there was a bungalow sold at RM40 per sq ft in Taman Rengit, Kampung Sungai Kapal,” he said. Tan doubted if the authorities had taken into account the villagers who operate fish farms in the areas, who would suffer a loss of income once they are relocated.

“What about the temples and places of worship? Have they drawn a new site for relocation?” he asked. He added that the authorities should not have begun the public hearing only now, since they planned to complete the entire relocation process by April next year. The residents are given six weeks from the day they receive the offer to make a decision.

The Johor government is planning to acquire some 8,094ha of land in Pengerang for the development of the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC). About 2,550ha will be developed by Petronas RAPID, while 544ha will be for the Pengerang Independent Deepwater Petroleum Terminal.

(Photo courtesy of Kampungku, Suaraku facebook page.)

Related report:

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pengerang-compensation-within-fortnight-johor-mb-pledges/

Villagers affected by the land acquisition process in Pengerang will receive their compensation in cash within 14 days, following their acceptance of the award. The assurance given by the state government is for the ongoing public hearing on land acquisition award that started September 3 this year, for villagers whose land were affected by the RAPID project located within the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC).

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, in a statement today, said the first phase of the public hearing from September 3-14 will enable three villagers affected to state their case on government compensation for their acquired land and properties.

The three villagers affected are part of Kampung Sungai Kapal, Kampung Teluk Empang and Kampung Langkah Baik, he said. The public hearing implementation according to him was based on Land Acquisition Act 1960 and the affected villagers need not worry about their rights because it would be done according to provisions of the act.

“The compensation offered will be based on valuations conducted by the Valuation and Property Service Department based on prevailing market prices at the time before section 4 was gazetted. It will not be arbitrarily decided by the state government,” said Abdul Ghani. — Bernama

Activists lose last court battle in bid to block Raub gold mine

By Lisa J. Ariffin and Roznah A.J. 

Published by The Malaysian Insider on 6 September 2012.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/activists-lose-last-court-battle-in-bid-to-block-raub-gold-mine/

Raub activists today lost in the Federal Court their last bid for a judicial review of the government-approved

Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (PEIA) report submitted by Raub Australian Gold Mining SB, a week after thousands of people marched in the small Pahang town to protest the use of cyanide by the miner.

Raub was the focus of last weekend’s Himpunan Hijau amid growing unhappiness with the Australian miner’s operations. Residents have complained that the use of cyanide has given rise to a number of health complaints although this has been denied by the authorities.

Today, a five-man Federal Court panel led by Court of Appeals president Tan Sri Raus Sharif dismissed the leave application for judicial review brought by the Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee (BCAC) on grounds the group had delayed its application and merit was not warranted in extended time.

“We have deliberated on this appeal, and we have unanimously decided... There is no ground to disturb findings of courts below,” Raus said. “We answer the questions in the negative,” he added.

The committee had on March 21, 2008 filed an application for leave for judicial review to request the setting aside of the approval of the PEIA on January 13, 1997 by the director-general of the Department of Environment.

In 2009, the High Court had dismissed the leave application on the grounds that “the application for leave for judicial review should have been brought within 40 days from the date of the approval of the PEIA or the date the villagers knew about the approval of the PEIA”. The decision was then upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2011.

When met outside the courtroom, BCAC’s lawyer Malik Imtiaz was noticeably upset with the outcome but said he respected the decision of the court. “We don’t know how the villagers can move any faster,” he said, referring to his argument earlier that residents only learned about the usage of cyanide in the gold mine in December 2006.

He added the panel was “very conservative in judgment and did not consider the health risks posed to the villagers. “We think the panel did not address the reports by the experts saying the cyanide used in gold mining is risky to the lives of villagers,” he said. “It is not a progressive decision,” he added.

Asked what would be the group’s next course of action, BCAC secretary Hue Fun How said the committee has yet to decide and will have to discuss it further. Raus had ordered the residents to pay costs of RM15,000 despite Malik’s argument that this was a public interest matter in which the lower courts did not order costs.

Related report: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/9/6/nation/20120906144257&sec=nation

High Court judge Justice Lau Bee Lan had said the application, which cited the director-general of the Department of Environment and Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd as respondents, was "out of time" as it was filed in March 21, 2008, more than 11 years after the EIA report had been approved.

On Sunday, the Pahang Raub Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee (BCAC) staged the Himpunan Hijau rally to protest the usage of cynide in gold mining activies in Bukit Koman.

The group had listed four demands in a memorandum, including suspending the gold mining facility in Bukit Koman and all expansion plans with immediate effect.

Miner Lynas gets Malaysia rare earths plant approval

Published by MSN News on 5 September 2012.
http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/miner-lynas-gets-malaysia-rare-earths-plant-approval

Australian miner Lynas on Wednesday said it had secured a temporary operating licence for its delayed $800 million rare earths facility in Malaysia and will begin production in October. Receipt of the temporary licence will enable Lynas to commence the transport of rare earths concentrate and prepare for the first feed to kiln, which is expected in October, the firm said in a statement.

The plant in eastern Pahang state has been dogged by protests from environmentalists and residents over concerns of radiation for the past two years and they have threatened to organise a blockade of the refinery. It has also become a political issue in Prime Minister Najib Razak's home state ahead of elections that must be held by the middle of next year.

"Like everyone at Lynas, I am eagerly anticipating the safe commencement of operations at the LAMP (Lynas Advanced Materials Plant) and being able to supply our customers with product," executive chairman Nicholas Curtis said. The Lynas plant was ready to begin operations nine months ago but production was delayed due to strong public opposition with legal challenges by residents still pending.

Local MP and senior opposition figure Fuziah Salleh, who has driven the anti-Lynas movement, told AFP the move by the government showed complete contempt for the courts. "Even though it is not illegal, it is completely unethical as they are jumping the gun," she said.

Andansura Rabu, who leads the Stop Lynas Coalition of residents, said he was shocked by the decision given the next court date is on Monday. "We are thinking of that and will call a meeting on what to do next," he told AFP when asked if they would follow up threats of blockading the plant.

The refinery is set to become one of the few sites outside China to process rare earths -- metals used in high-tech equipment ranging from missiles to mobile phones. Malaysia's Atomic Energy Licensing Board granted the temporary licence for the plant to begin operations for an initial two-year period under strict safety requirements.

Related reports:
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=39225:big-trouble-for-bn-anti-lynas-groups-to-blockade-kuantan-port-pursue-injunction&Itemid=2

Anti-Lynas groups and critics rallied together to strongly condemn Prime Minister Najib Razak's government for giving a temporary operating licence to the Australian miner, allowing it to begin its rare earth refinery operations by October this year.

"Issuance of TOL showed complete disrespect to the decision of the court by the Minister. It looks like BN doesn't want to learn and Najib's 'People First' pledge is just lip service," PKR MP for Kuantan Fuziah Salleh told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Just days ago in Raub, also his home state mind you, 15,000 people came together to protest cyanide gold mining. But BN is still deaf and blind to the people's wishes. It still wants to pretend it is correct and everyone else in the nation is wrong."

In an immediate response, environmental action group Himpunan Hijau responded by vowing to blockade Kuantan Port if Lynas starts to ship ores into the country for processing at the controversial Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) in Gebeng, Pahang.

“I will guarantee that their ore shipments will not slip past our blockade. We will mount the biggest civil disobedience event ever seen in the country and get all the groups together. The port of Kuantan will not be operational as long as the ore is there,” said Himpunan Hijau chairperson Wong Tack...

Meanwhile, the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) promised it would continue to seek an injunction to freeze the TOL issued earlier by this week by

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/09/05/lynas-gets-temporary-operating-licence/

The plant is considered important to efforts to break China’s grip on rare earths that are used in products ranging from smartphones to hybrid cars. In an immediate reaction, Kuantan MP and vocal opponent of the Lynas project Fuziah Salleh questioned the timing of AELB’s decision to issue the TOL to Lynas. She said that AELB should have waited first for the hearing of a related matter filed by concerned residents in the court. “The MOSTI minister whose decision is being challenged and is the basis for the judicial review should know better than to agree on the issuance of the TOL to Lynas,” she said in a statement.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/preventing-the-next-lynas-or-raub-mine

Development that happens without consultation is oppressive to communities. Discovering one fine day that there is highway about to plough its way through your house is upsetting.

Having your development project picketed, protested and pilloried in public is also a weight on developers. But that’s what happens when you don’t consult sufficiently with local people. That’s what happens when you think it is sufficient to secure “buy-in” at the political level in order to carry out your project.

Free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) is an approach outlined in international human rights law and declarations. It essentially upholds the right for project-affected peoples to be consulted by, and to negotiate with, project developers on the impact of a project on their community. Greater weight should be accorded to a community’s right to say “No” to a project.

At its heart is the idea that the pre-existing moral and property rights of residents should balance the privileges granted to the yet-to-be-constructed property of a private developer.

Instituting such rights within the EQA, or within an equivalent law, will not mean the end of development in Malaysia. It will mean that development planning will not be something that can simply be imposed from “on high”, rather it must be negotiated with affected peoples.

Implementing these two reforms would go far in improving the integrity and credibility of the EIA process and preventing, or at least reducing, instances where development projects are “sprung” on communities, which leads to campaigns, lawsuits and political problems.

Communities can feel much more secure in their rights to property, health, and a clean environment.

Developers should have greater confidence that their projects can proceed without significant interruption, delay or reputation problems following adequate consultation.