by Nigel Aw
Malaysiakini
Feb 26, 2012
DAP has called on the federal government to form a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to probe the safety of the RM700 million Lynas Advanced Material Plant (Lamp) in Gebeng, Kuantan.
Party vice-chief Tan Seng Giaw (right) said the federal government should do so as it had called for a PSC on electoral reforms immediately after the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 last year.
“Like the Bersih 2.0 rally, the government set up a parliamentary select committee so this should be the case (for Himpunan Hijau 2.0), a parliamentary select committee should look into Lynas,” he said.
Tan said the government must take heed of the people’s concerns and review decision to allow Lynas to operate in Malaysia, by taking into consideration of the effects caused by the now defunct Bukit Merah rare-earth refinery in Perak.
The Lamp, he said, similarly involves similar thorium waste and in the Bukit Merah case, an element believed to be responsible for the high level of leukemia cases among those living within the vicinity.
Kit Siang: Is Lamp really worth it?
Meanwhile, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang warned that if the government continues to ignore the people’s voice, it will cost them at the ballot box.
“BN has said it is confident in retaining all its seats in Pahang but today is a warning that they may lose more seats as people are concerned about the environment and good governance,” he said during a post-Himpunan Hijau 2.0 rally DAP luncheon in Kuantan this afternoon.
This, he attributed to the increasing political maturity of Malaysians which compared to Bukit Merah, are much more active in voicing out their rights.
Lim said that while the economic benefits of Lamp cannot be denied, he questioned whether it was worth the risk.
“Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan prosper without rare earth, there are plenty of other opportunities… There is no need to tale such risks for development,” he said.