'Woman with disabled child was not ARE employee'
The woman whose child was born disabled after she worked at the Asian Rare Earth (ARE) plant in 1980 was not an employee of the plant, said the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB).
The woman whose child was born disabled after she worked at the Asian Rare Earth (ARE) plant in 1980 was not an employee of the plant, said the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB).
According to AELB director-general Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, this was informed to him by Mitsubishi Chemicals, which operated the plant which shut down after years of protests in 1992.
“We had contacted the company after we read the New York Times article. We have every sympathy for her and her very special child.
“Mitsubishi informed me that they did not employ any female workers. So it is likely that she was working for a subcontractor, which means that ARE is not legally bound to give compensation,” he said. 
Lai Kwan (left in photo), whose 30-year-old son was born with Down Syndrome, was pregnant when she worked as a labourer with a local contractor to build an additional structure for the ARE facility.
Raja Abdul Aziz said it was also unlikely that Lai’s child was born mentally retarded because of her exposure to radiation as nerve tissue is the most resistant to radiation.
He, however, conceded that the same cannot be said for leukemia, which can be caused by radiation.
He said that this remains the only unresolved matter from the ARE scandal, as there is presently no way to prove that the rise in cancers in the area was caused by the plant.
This is because the Health Ministry has no historical data on the prevalence of radiation-linked cancer in the area before the plant began operations.
As such, he said, Lynas (M) Sdn Bhd has been asked to provide information on the prevalence of radiation-linked cancers in the Gebeng area as an “incentive requirement”.
Lynas has been required to submit such a report so that there would be historical data of the number of people per thousands or hundred thousands who suffer from such cancers in the surrounding area.
“This is to safeguard the health of the residents, so that if there is a rise in prevalence in the future, they can take action against Lynas,” he said.
He added that that Lynas’ report on the matter is “almost complete” and the AELB has informed them that it will not proceed with reviewing other documents until the prevalence report is submitted.
Previous studies have been conducted to show that the prevalence of child leukemia in the Bukit Merah area is higher than other similar areas, following ARE’s operations.
The ARE plant ceased operations in 1992.
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