Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad agrees with the government decision to continue with the Lynas rare earths processing plant in Gebeng, Kuantan, and disagrees with protesters that the plant is dangerous.

NONE Condemning the action of protesters over the heavily politicised rare earths plant in Kuantan, Mahathir said the nation needed to accept that it was not harmful, that it was important for the country to reap the benefits from the existence of rare earths in the country.

"I think we need to stick to the fact that it is true that there are nuclear materials that are very dangerous and need to be handled carefully and with responsibility.

"Rare earths are not dangerous like nuclear... rare earths are not yet known to cause diseases among users of its end products," Mahathir said in his speech at the Chemical Industries Council of Malaysia (CICM) Responsible Care Awards 2011/2012 dinner in Kuala Lumpur tonight.

He said rare earths, used as components for batteries and magnets, were very important materials for the electronic industry.

The process undertaken at the Lynas plant was not a dangerous process and its safety had been assured by the world's best experts and certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mahathir added.

Meanwhile, Responsible Care Awards 2011/2012 saw Petronas subsidiary Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd winning six gold, four silver and 13 merit awards under the Corporate Awards category for the Six Codes of Management Practice.

"As a chemicals industry leader, Petronas Chemicals is constantly vigilant in observing health, safety and environment standards and continuously strives for the best practices," CICM president/chief executive officer Dr Abd Hapiz Abdullah said.

The awards are the chemical industry's unique global initiative to drive continuous improvement in all aspects of safety, health and environmental performance.

- Bernama