An even larger anti-Lynas rally next month
A huge rally is to be held in Kuantan, Pahang, from 10am on Feb 26 to press for the "termination" of the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant project in the nearby industrial area of Gebeng.
A huge rally is to be held in Kuantan, Pahang, from 10am on Feb 26 to press for the "termination" of the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant project in the nearby industrial area of Gebeng.
The Himpunan Hijau 2.0 will be a continuation of the first Himpunan Hijau on Oct 9 last year, where a coalition of environmental NGOs led a 2,000-strong anti-Lynas rally by a Kuantan beach.
This time, the one-and-half-hour rally will be at the Kuantan municipal field, where participants are expected to pray, sing songs, recite poems and read out a seven-point demand called "Aspirations of the People".
Organisers say the details of the demands will be announced at a later date.
"We reiterated our call to the authorities, especially to the prime minister, to make the right decision for the people by putting an end to this project before the next general election.
The people will only vote for those who stand on the side of the people," the Green Rally 2.0 organising committee secretary Bang Seet Ping said.
Bang (left, in picture above) lamented that the first rally was "blatantly ignored" by the authorities, but is confident that the second rally would draw an even larger crowd.
She was speaking at a press conference at the PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.
The Islamic party's deputy president, Mohamad Sabu and PKR vice-president Fuziah Salleh were also present to show support.
Asked if the issue had been politicised, Bang replied, "For someone who would say that this issue has been politicised, I would say that person is totally irresponsible, because this issue is a very real issue to the people."
"We at Himpunan Hijau are all made up of ordinary people. Our stand is that whoever steps forward to help us in our struggle, we will welcome them.
The last anti-Lynas rally, held at the Kuantan beach side, saw the involvement of several NGOs from around the country.
Among the NGO and political party leaders present then were Fuziah, who is also Kuantan MP, Ambiga Sreenevasan and Maria Chin Abdullah of Bersih 2.0, DAP assemblypersons Jenice Lee and Chong Siew Onn, Robin Chapple of the Australian Green Party and MCA's Teruntun assemblyperson Chang Hong Seong.
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