I wish to refer to your news report entitled 'Sg Lembing folks protest Lynas dump site plan' and wish to observe that Malaysians would remain passive on any issue unless it happens at their doorsteps.

Previously, not many in Sg Lembing were really concerned about the Lynas rare earth project but the moment it was speculated that the dump site may be located in their backyard, everybody started to jump up.

Yes, Sg Lembing folks generally feel threatened by impending disposal of rare earth waste permanently at their backyard for 300 long years.

Despite assurances offered by those people in IAEA and AELB, there is little reason to believe that rare earth could be so harmless and yet so profitable.

AELB and the government could keep on mentioning possible locations of the dump site, but it will invariably attract spontaneous demonstrations like the one in Sg Lembing.

As the issue drags on it will be increasingly unlikely that a suitable location for permanent disposal of this waste be found.

Meanwhile, Lynas has given a written undertaking to ship out rare earth waste, to be disposed off at undisclosed overseas locations, in the event that a local location could not be identified.

Superficially, this letter of undertaking coupled with USD50 million deposited by Lynas would provide the guarantee and the final solution to waste disposal.

However on closer scrutiny, this letter of undertaking would likely become unenforceable as Lynas is just a corporate entity without sovereign right over any piece of land.

As the on-going dispute over location of waste disposal continues to rages on, it's possible Lynas would have gone into many years of operations.

Lynas could cease operations as enough profits would have been made by then. It could cease operation within short notice and without any answer for a permanent disposal facility.

The government could confiscate that USD50 million deposit but the waste would not go anywhere. It will remain at the factory site for 300 long years.