Every now and then an issue crops up that tests the expertise, character, strength and resolve of our nation's leadership in dealing with, and managing what has more than mere financial impact on the lives of citizens.How our Prime Minister deals with such a complex issue as the Lynas Project has a great bearing on what he and his BUMNO/BN colleagues think of us, and in what regard and esteem they hold the safety and general interests of the people who voted them into power, as well as those who did not.
On what has transpired so far, the vast majority of Malaysians will certainly form the opinion that PM Najib and the Cabinet hold us in utter contempt and disregard, for which reason alone we should vote BUMNO/BN out of Government in GE13. There are hundreds of other reasons why BUMNO/BN should be voted out. The vast array of financial frauds and scandals committed while this regime has been in power must constitute some sort of world record, when weightage is given to its relatively small population of 28 million!
Let's look at the FACTS!
1. The Lynas Project is an approval given by the Malaysian Government, to an Australian company, Lynas Corporation, to ship into Malaysia unprocessed Rare Earth ore from its mining plant in Mount Weld in the state of Western Australia, have it industrially refined at their plant in Gebeng in Pahang State, and re-export the pure mineral back to Australia.
2. Rare Earth refers to 17 rare chemical elements which are very valuable components in makings products ranging from nuclear batteries to lasers, powerful magnets, X-ray machines etc.
3. A huge drawback in mining Rare Earth is the common presence of radioactive Thorium and Uranium waste referred to as "Tailings." Radioactive contamination of course means certain death to humans who come into prolonged contact with it, while there are any number of studies which catalogue possible long-term effects such as cancer, premature and defective births etc.
4. Thorium in particular has a half-life of about 14 billion years. This means that every 14 billion years, half of any radioactive Thorium tailings remaining will decay. To put it in proper context, our Universe is thought to be about 14 billion years old!
5. Therefore, the key issue is how to extract and where and how to store the radioactive Thorium tailings.
6. Rare Earth mining also involves the use of toxic acids which add to environmental issues.
7. 96% of the world's supply of Rare Earth comes from China. Therefore, there are very rich pickings in this industry indeed.
Deposit of RM50 million? Why has Najib kept quiet about it!
8. Lynas Corp will invest perhaps RM 1 billion to set up its mining plant in Gebeng and provide employment to about 400 Malaysians. Lynas has disclosed that it has paid a "deposit" to our Government, rumoured to be about RM50 million though PM Najib has not disclosed any details about it. What we do know is that Lynas has been given Pioneer Status with 12 years tax exemption for its operations in Gebeng. Nice!
9. Lynas has of course added all the usual bells and whistles in its PR blitz justifying its venture into Malaysia - Zero radiation exposure, first class state-of-the-art technology, new international benchmarks for safety, environmental performance and shared values across the supply chain for a sustainable future.....ad infinitum.
Not learning from the Bukit Merah incident
10. There is grave doubt anyone has sighted the Environment Impact Report (EIA) for this project. That's incredible given that radioactive chemicals and elements are involved!
11. Mitsubishi Corp of Japan set up a Rare Earth plant in Bukit Merah in Perak in the 1980's, a project approved by none other than Dr.Mahathir. Mitsubishi has spent hundreds of millions of dollars clearing up the mess of the radioactive tailings. The cleaning up process is still not over, clearly indicating they had grossly underestimated the nature and scale of the problem. CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE for some articles on this subject.
12. Lynas Corp has not finalised where it intends to store the radioactive tailings from the Gebeng plant, despite which PM Najib and our Government have given Lynas Corp the go ahead to build its plant. What is interesting too is that the Australian Government has refused to grant Lynas Corp the right to return the radioactive tailings to anywhere in Australia from where it originated in the first place! Despite all PM's Najib assurances, it does not engender much confidence when Lynas Corp still talks about "If we cannot find a suitable waste disposal site for radioactive tailings in Malaysia.....then....ho hum....we will explore other possibilities..ho hum....".
Now let me ask some simple questions:
1. Why are PM Najib, the Cabinet and BUMNO/BN pursuing this highly controversial project given the Australian Government will not allow radioactive tailings to be shipped back to their own shores?
2. More than that, why isn't Lynas Corp carrying out this project in Australia? I mean, yes, labour costs are cheaper in Malaysia, but surely the cost of setting up a new plant in Malaysia plus the logistics of shipping to and fro will make it cheaper to do the project Down Under? Lynas Corp's statements do not pass the smell test. Something stinks! They are deliberately hiding something about his project from us. They are not telling us the whole truth.
3. How did the Atomic Energy Licencising Board (AELB) Malaysia issue Lynas Corp a Temporary Operating Licence (TOL) without an EIA Report or BEFORE Lynas Corp has finalised its proposal for disposal of radioactive tailings?
4. Is there some kind of a Human Periodic Table where the safety and and lives of Malaysians are on a lower scale than that of Australians?
5. Why have you not learnt from the disaster of the Bukit Merah Rare Earth project?
In the end PM Najib and BUMNO/BN have been seduced and blinded by money and PR spindoctoring talk of $4 billion "multiplier effect" on Malaysia's economy.
They have been misdirected by spurious statistics. Note how they will always say that statistically, the probability is higher that you will die crossing the street than from nuclear radiation. As the saying goes, "There are lies, damned lies and statistics!" But when you, your family members, relatives and friends are the victims, then every statistic is 100%, damn it!
Seduced and blinded by money
When some idiot at the AELB says the air around Gebeng will have zero radiaactive particles in it, that people can swim in it and PM Najib and BUMNO/BN parrot it as though it's the gospel truth, here's my proposal to them ALL:
Move your family, your children, parents and grandparents and house next door to the Lynas Corp plant in Mount Weld, Western Australia. If after 30 years you don't glow in the dark and have not contracted cancer, skin or lung disease or started petting three headed dogs and cats, why we'll all gladly approve the Gebeng mining operation. Not a day before!
Have you no respect for the sanctity of the life of Malaysian citizens, PM Najib? What are you? The Prime Minister of Australia or the Prime Minister of Malaysia? Are you saying the safety and lives of the people of Gebeng are of secondary importance when compared with that of other Malaysians, not to mention foreigners? How many of them must die before you deem the situation "critical"?
Do remember that the planners and "experts" at Chernobyl, 3 Mile Island and Fukushima had also in the beginning issued certificates of fitness saying there was no danger of human error or of short or long-term disasters. Then when nature defies and confounds your 30-, 50- and 100 year statistics with its awesome unpredictable power, who pays for shoddy planning and oversights?
Make my day, sanction Lynas!
Anyway, PM Najib, go ahead. Make my day. Sanction Lynas Corp and its ill-advise and dangerous foray into Gebeng. This will be another nail in the coffin for yourself and BUMNO/BN.
It will assure your legacy soon enough, that of being consigned to being no more than a mere footnote in Malaysian history!
And when Pakatan comes into power, we will close the Gebeng Rare Earth Plant down and pass the bill to you and your crony fraudtrepreneur friends and colleagues who will be made personally liable to put everything back in order as nature intended it.
- Donplaypuks® with radioactive elements and chemicals, man!
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