From FRIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRALIA:
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Concerns are increasing in Malaysia over the construction of the rare earths processing facility at Kuantan. Four people were arrested opposing the development last weekend and over 1000 people demonstrated against the construction of the facility two weeks ago.
"Clearly the local residents are not happy at all about this development. It is clear that this problem is escalating, which in turn could threaten the viability of the project", said Ms Lowrey.
"We fear that the Malaysian Government may enforce harsh measures against protesters of which Lynas will be fully responsible."
There are a number of issues that the company must answer including release of a full environmental assessment for the site.
"Lynas has not made this information publicly available before embarking on the construction of the Kuantan site which could indicate that they have something to hide" said Ms Lowrey.
Mia Pepper, nuclear free campaigner, Conservation Council of Western Australia said "There are a lot of un-answered questions about the plans for radioactive waste disposal from this project, the secrecy is unacceptable and the dangers to health are all too familiar."
The Malaysian community is calling for the plant to be stopped, highlighting concerns regarding a similar Mitsubishi (Asian Rare Earth) plant located on the other side of the Malay Peninsula at Bukit Merah which closed in 1992 after years of sometimes violent demonstrations, several leukemia cases and a $100 million costly cleanup.
The rare earths project is also causing issues in Western Australia.
Ms Pepper said, "Radioactive thorium 232 will also be transported through Fremantle in hessian bags, the same method used by Magellan to transport lead which caused lead contamination outside shipping containers until Magellan was forced to shut down. It's not good enough for WA and it's not good enough for Malaysia."
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Please read the full article on the website - I think you'd be interested to know more.
I'm just glad that there are people - non-Malaysians - who care about the well-being of Malaysians.
Believe me, the Malaysian government really does not give a flying duck.
2 comments:
"The Malaysian government"... haha! Another "urban legend"? It doesn't yet exist, my dear. What we have, instead, is a buncha crooks in expensive suits posturing as ministers, while their minions are armed with teargas, water cannons, and machine guns, ready anytime to beat the shit out of the public, meaning us. Then they will siphon off your life savings. Keep reading The Star and watching TV, folks! Selamat bertidor!
You have a point, Antares. What I actually meant was buncha-crooks-in-expensive-suits-posturing-as-ministers-while-their-minions-are-armed-with-teargas-water-cannons-and-machine-guns but it was too long, so I just called them the "Malaysian government" for short.
I certainly didn't elect that bunch of pariah dogs.
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