Anti-Lynas group aiming to whip up support Down Under

Tashny Sukumaran 

Save Malaysia Stop Lynas movement is taking its protest to Australia, hoping that the Australian people will support in stopping the rare earth plant from firing up.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) may have given the Lynas Corp the go ahead to start their rare earth plant but the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas movement has not given up and is taking their fight to Australia.
Lynas Corp plans to ship the rare earth ore mined from Western Australia’s Mount Weld to the Gebeng plant in Kuantan.
The anti-Lynas movement will be in Australia from July 4 to 9. They will picketing in front of the Lynas headquarters, conduct a forum in Sydney to get the support of the Australians, and march to the Australian parliament in Canberra.
They are hoping to engage the locals there and convince them to apply pressure on the corporation.
“We are going to paint a big, clear picture about our concerns over the controversial Lynas plant in Kuantan and hopefully convince the Australians to back us,” said Steve Hang, head of communications for the movement.
“Together, people power can stop Lynas,” he said.
The Save Malaysia Stop Lynas movement has been strongly against the RM700-million rare earth refinery in Gebeng, voicing environmental and health concerns.
It has urged the government to halt the project before it irreparably harms the community and environment.
For a while, it looked like they had won when the government bowed to public pressure and called in a nine-man panel from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to prepare a report on the site’s safety.
However, the report came back saying that if Lynas Corp followed eleven recommendations, they could resume working on the plant, which is 40% complete.
Lynas Corp is confident it will be able to fire up its controversial rare earth refinery in Gebeng by year-end, in spite of the freshly imposed conditions.
Rare earth metals, crucial to high-technology products such as Boeing airplanes, smart bombs, Apple’s iPhone and hybrid cars, have become increasingly vital.
Reports say the plant may earn RM8 billion for Lynas, but critics have questioned the real economic benefit of the project, pointing to the 12-year tax break the Australian company will enjoy.
The government expects Lynas to spend RM4 million a year, in addition to the RM700 million it has already poured into plant.