KUANTAN: MCA is prepared to be mediator between the ‘Save Malaysia Stop Lynas’ group and the government over the rare earth processing plant of Lynas Corporation Ltd in Gebeng, here.
Party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said the offer came after the group lamented that they did not have a channel to convey their views to the government on the building of the plant.
He said MCA was open to hearing the group’s views, especially on monitoring of the plant’s operations, to ensure that waste products from the plant would be managed efficiently.
However, Dr Chua said, the group must abide by the conditions set by MCA, one of which was that the issue or claims it made must be based on scientific findings or medical evidence and not based on rumours or hearsay.
“They must also not politicise the issue,” he said after officially opening the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina) Pei Chai new building, here, yesterday.
Earlier, he had met the chairman of the ‘Save Malaysia Stop Lynas’ group, Tan Bun Teet.
Dr Chua said at the moment, the issue was being politicised by certain quarters to show that the Barisan Nasional government was inefficient and ignored the people’s concerns.
“The accusation that the government is insensitive and only accepts the views of Lynas Corporation is not right because the government cares about the people as it depends on their support.”
Asked on feedback from the group, Dr Chua said they were satisfied with the offer made and conditions set by MCA.
The building of the plant became controversial when some quarters objected to it for fear of radiation from the plant which could endanger the residents’ health. — Bernama