Mustapa Mohamed says criticis should not get emotional over the issue, and refrain from politicising and pre-judging.
KUALA LUMPUR: International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed sidestepped questions on Putrajaya’s involvement in the controversial rare earth project in Kuantan, and did not want the issue politicised.“Don’t be emotional, politicise and pre-judge,” he told a press conference here and remained evasive when asked to comment on the storage of toxic waste.
Rare earth processing produces copious amount of thorium, a radioactive property, and questions had been raised as to where the waste would be dumped.
Australian mining company Lynas in a statement issued on May 21 claimed that it had provided funds to Putrajaya for the “safe management” of rare earth residues.
However, Mustapa said he had no information on the matter.
The minister also urged critics to air their opposition through the “proper channel” via official government websites.
The project in Gebeng, Pahang, which was estimated to generate RM8 billion in the first few years of operation, sparked an uproar among residents and environmentalists who feared it could be a repeat of the radiation disaster in Bukit Merah, Perak, in 1987.
The Bukit Merah disaster was linked to eight cases of leukaemia, with seven resulting in death. The plant was closed down following public anger, but the refinery was still undergoing a cleaning-up process costing RM300 million.
Public pressure forced the government to halt all construction work on the Lynas plant, pending a review from an “independent panel of experts”.
Observers said the government initiative to set up the panel was clearly aimed at convincing the public of the plant’s safety instead of finding facts.
‘No vested interest’
Mustapa today defended the panel, dismissing the allegation of conflict of interest since the panel which consist of global experts included four members from the International Atomic Energy Agency.“No it’s not true. They have no vested interest. We got nothing to hide,” he said.
The government had admitted in the past that it could have done better in educating the public especially residents on the rare earth plant issue through public forums.
But the minister said that there would not be any open forum with the review panel albeit giving the assurance that relevant stakeholders such as the Bar Council and resident associations were welcomed to government-initiated public engagements here and in Kuantan.
He also said the government had placed advertisements in newspapers yesterday to seek public feedback that would then be relayed to the review panel.
