Anti-Lynas campaign heats up on June 23

Another Anti-Lynas campaign is set to take place this Saturday on June 23, organised by Himpunan Hijau against the rare earth plant project in Gebeng, Pahang.

Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA) president Wong Tack who is also the chairperson of Himpunan Hijau will leave for West Malaysia enroute to Pahang Tuesday June 19.

He is to spearhead the Himpunan Hijau organised Anti-Lynas protest campaign with others this Saturday including a series of seminar talks and concert just as the Dewan Rakyat is scheduled to deliberate on a select committee report on the rare earth processing plant project for parliament to adopt it.

Wong was met by Citizen Journalists Malaysia (CJMY) recently at a forum in conjunction with World Environment Day on ‘Sustainable Agriculture and Regeneration of Environment’‏ by Hisanori Asami, the Regional Manager of Asia Pacific, EMRO (EM research Organization) based in Bangkok Thailand.

Asked if the federal minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Maximum Ongkili from Sabah has indicted for sure that the project would go ahead with the issuance of the necessary permit and license for it to operate, Wong replied, “I dare the government to go ahead and try. We will protest against it. We will keep on going even until next year until the next election.”

Wong said later the campaign would be sustained in towns all over Malaysia including Sabah. Himpunan Hijau is an NGO out to promote green awareness throughout Malaysia. It has staged three protest rallies in the past against the Lynas Project.

Wong said the authorities did not strictly adhered to all the requirements for a proper environmental impact assessment study for the project that Australia does not want on its own soil.

Asked if the Federal authorities has responded to Himpunan Hijau’s demands to scrape the Lynas Project, Wong said the government is currently keeping things quiet in the run up to the coming general election to avoid conflicts.

“We will be more aggressive now. Why? Because our children may suffer for it if Lynas is approved.”

Lynas Corp Malaysia managing director, Mashal Ahmad has indicted that his firm would have no problem meeting the temporary operating licence (TOL) terms of MOSTI imposed three days ago for waste controls on radioactive elements and dust remnants.