Intimidating peaceful protesters

MP SPEAKS Anyone coming to Port Klang yesterday morning would have thought a coup was taking place. Hundreds of policemen walked around with stern faces, car booths were checked and people were questioned as to why they were in the vicinity.

In reality, people were coming there to protest against the construction of nuclear power plants in the country - a plan that the government is trying to bulldoze through with as little transparency as possible.

We were not armed with sophisticated weapons but held banners calling on the government to stop its plans to build the two 1,000-megawatt nuclear plants at the touted cost of RM 21.3 billion by 2021, and to listen to people's opinion on this matter.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has been trumpeting his "people first" campaign. But the reality on the ground is that the people, who were walking to the protest venue, were harassed, intimidated and forced to turn back by the police.

Maybe Najib listens to public opinion only if it tangos with his own.

I have said this in the past and I am repeating it here - police gangsterism and intimidation are shameless behaviour. The police cannot keep going to the mat for Umno politicians.

For example, a protest outside the Klang Utara police station demanding a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the alleged sex video of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was allowed to go on.

This stinks of double standards, Mobilising the huge number of policemen to aggressively pressure the protesters to turn back is a sheer waste of public resources.

What the government and police have not learnt is that the people will not be cowed down by such selective persecution. The lobby against the nuclear power plants will go on, for nuclear reactors are an unacceptable risk to humanity and the environment.

Nuclear power plants are the most dangerous creations of men, next to nuclear warheads. Therefore, I consider it a criminal act on the part of the Malaysian government to insist on building nuclear plants despite strong indications that risks from nuclear disasters are real and long-lasting.

Billions of dollars swayed the president and four top executives of the Tokyo Electronic Power Co (Tepco) to fake safety data on the nuclear reactors operated by Tepco.

Likewise, corruption is rampant in Umno and clearly, the government's plans to construct the nuclear plants are unaccountable and riddled with lies.

The Malaysian government should not be taken in by the rosy picture painted by nuclear lobbyists.

Let not kickbacks lure us to going nuclear

And neither should kickbacks - a very real possibility - be an inspiration to go ahead with the construction of nuclear power plants that can only contribute to the creation of unimaginable amounts of lethal, high-level radioactive waste and result in another Fukushima or Chernobyl.

Three of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors exploded following the recent earthquake and radiation exposure continues to be a concern for the workers at the devastated nuclear facility.

And Japan seems to be losing the battle to save the fourth nuclear reactor.

The bodies of hundreds killed by the earthquake and tsunami are still lying unrecovered as retrieving them would mean exposure to toxic levels of radiation. If the bodies are cremated, the smoke could spread radioactive material. If left to decompose, the bodies would contaminate the soil with radioactive material.

According to medical experts, Ukraine, Russia and Belarus have seen a huge increase in childhood cancer since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. The region has also been burdened with the continuing costs of decontamination and healthcare.

A total of 31 deaths were directly attributed to the Chernobyl explosions. The World Health Organisation suggests that the number of deaths potentially resulting from the accident could reach 4,000, while a Greenpeace report puts it at 200,000.

Closer to home, at least eight leukemia cases were linked to exposure to radiation from the Asian Rare Earth factory in Bukit Merah, Perak.

Nuclear lobbyists tell us that nuclear energy is clean and can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But this argument does not hold water, and more so in Malaysia, where we are yet to explore renewable energy options as a way of working towards energy efficiency.

The government must look at viable options, like using the local renewable energy sources such as geothermal, wind and solar to ensure a sustainable transition for a developing country like ours.

This would provide affordable and secure energy supply and increase human well-being without fossil fuels.

A global move would also create eight million jobs in the renewable energy sector by 2020.

Najib has said that he would consult the relevant bodies and the people before making a conclusive decision. The premier has also indicated that he is still in the midst of reviewing the nuclear project.

We all know that these are mere words used to hoodwink the people. But the people are clear. They do not want nuclear facilities in the country.

And therefore my Pakatan Rakyat colleagues and I will continue working together with the rakyat to exert pressure on the government to abort this idea.

VIDEO | 11.36 mins

Charles Santiago is the Member of Parliament Port Klang.