Lynas yet to find country to accept wastes

PETALING JAYA: Lynas has yet to find a country to accept wastes produced at its rare earth processing plant in Gebeng, Kuantan, claims Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL). "When the government approved the temporary operating licence (TOL) for Lynas in January, it had no safe or viable permanent solution for its wastes. Today, the TOL has been issued and Lynas is still scrambling to find an answer," said SMSL spokesperson Tan Bun Teet in a statement yesterday.

Following the government's decision to grant Lynas a TOL on Sept 5, a news portal subsequently reported that the company had applied for permission bom its home country Australia to import radioactive residue from the plant.

This is despite repeated rejections from the Canberra state authorities and Lynas's earlier pledge that it would safely remove all of its waste from Malaysia after concerns of health hazards were raised by residents.

Resource: The Sun, Page: 6
Date: Wednesday, 19 September 2012