KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Dec: The Minister of Home Affairs, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, was criticised for refusing to answer questions about the impact of the Lynas rare earth processing plant in Kuantan following the terrible flooding.
The Chairman of the Green Anti-Lynas Assembly, Wong Tack, said that it seems like the central government being silent when the question of Lynas comes up.
“Why did the minister say that the issue is irrelevant and over? Why actually are they trying to cover up,” he said, quoted from Keadilan Daily.
Zahid Hamidi refused to answer questions regarding the risk of the Lynas plant and said that the issue is ‘irrelevant’,” he said when met by reporters at the Umno General Assembly on 5 December.
On 15 October, the residents of Kuantan protested the arrival of the second ship, Red Resource, from Port Fremantle, Australia, which brought harmful Rare Earth Oxides (REO), a harmful material.
The Member of Parliament for Indera Mahkota, Datuk Fauzi Abdul Rahman, also sent a memorandum of protest to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), but have not received any response until now.
In relation to that, Wong Tack said that he is worried that the waste has mixed in with flood water and has spread.
“We also want to know whether Lynas has a disaster response plan to deal with situations such as this,” he said.