DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today called on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to prove that “scientific facts” showed that the RM700 million Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) was safe by having its wastes stored behind his official residence.

He said in a press statement that residents living at Bukit Merah in Perak were not spared from radioactive contamination from its local rare earth plant, which has shut down despite scientific facts.

“How can the prime minister be so insensitive as to describe genuine concerns about health and public safety as imaginary fears, when he or his wife and children do not have to face the risks should anything go wrong.

NONE “If Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin dared not fulfill his promise to live next to the Lynas plant, how can Najib then declare that there are no scientific facts that can raise doubts as to the safety of the public or the environment?”

Despite the concerns, Lim charged that the government valued profit over the people’s health.

Lim also blasted Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai for suggesting that the plant can proceed as the Lynas has given assurance that it will transport its residue out of the country if necessary.

“As a responsible health minister, Liow must demand that Lynas  state where the waste residue will be stored or disposed off. Failure by Lynas to do so may endanger the environment, as since no country will accept the waste residue, will they then be dumped into the sea?

“Transferring waste residues from one country to another that is not the source country could also be contrary to international rules,” he said.

Parliamentary select committee on Lamp chief Mohamed Khaled Nordin had criticised this claim, pointing out that Lynas residue does not exceed 1Bq/g which means it is not classified as radioactive material.

This, he said, means that there was a possibility that Australia could accept the residue back but conceded that there was no such guarantee from its government.