Protest in Kuantan against second rare earth shipment
Wong Teck ChiPublished: Oct 16, 2013 4:25 AM | Updated: Oct 16, 2013 6:18 AM
About 100 Kuantan residents gathered overnight at the car park in front of Kuantan Port to protest against a planned second shipment of rare earth oxides (ROE) from Australia to the Lynas Advance Material Plant in Gebeng, 7km away.
About 100 Kuantan residents gathered overnight at the car park in front of Kuantan Port to protest against a planned second shipment of rare earth oxides (ROE) from Australia to the Lynas Advance Material Plant in Gebeng, 7km away.
However, according to Save Malaysia Stop Lynas coordinator Tan Bun Teet, there was no sign that the ROE had been transported out of the port when he left the port at 3am today.
This, despite SMSL's previous claim that the ROE was expected to arrive early this morning.
Tan, who spoke to Malaysiakini this morning, said the crowd started arriving by car about 10pm yesterday.
He said that, by midnight, dozens of cars were parked at the port with the crowd estimated at over 100.
The drivers directed their headlights at the port and honked as a sign of protest, he said, before alighting from their cars to listen to speeches by community leaders.
Also present were PKR's Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh and Semambu assemblyperson Lee Chean Chung.
Lee on his Facebook page said the last group to leave the port departed at about 7am, “although police left the scene much earlier”.
'Police cordon'
According to China Press, police had set up a 50-metre cordon from the security post, to stop protestors from entering the port.
The protestors also carried banners stating that 1 million people have signed the petition against the plant.
Tan reiterated that the government should not have issued a second import permit to Lynas, as the company has not built the permanent disposal facility nor has it exported the waste.
"Lynas as a giant Australian company should bear the corporate social responsibility and make sure that the health of local citizens are not affected," said Tan (right).
"They have not built the disposal facility until now, but they make use of (the Malaysia government's regulatory weakness) to import a second batch of ROE.”
It is understood that the government had allowed Lynas to operate without a permanent disposal facility as long as it can export all its by-products out of Malaysia.
The Australian company is believed to be in the midst of processing its waste to become by-products which it will then export.
However, according to Save Malaysia Stop Lynas coordinator Tan Bun Teet, there was no sign that the ROE had been transported out of the port when he left the port at 3am today. This, despite SMSL's previous claim that the ROE was expected to arrive early this morning.
Tan, who spoke to Malaysiakini this morning, said the crowd started arriving by car about 10pm yesterday.
He said that, by midnight, dozens of cars were parked at the port with the crowd estimated at over 100.
The drivers directed their headlights at the port and honked as a sign of protest, he said, before alighting from their cars to listen to speeches by community leaders. Also present were PKR's Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh and Semambu assemblyperson Lee Chean Chung.
Lee on his Facebook page said the last group to leave the port departed at about 7am, “although police left the scene much earlier”.
'Police cordon'
According to China Press, police had set up a 50-metre cordon from the security post, to stop protestors from entering the port.
The protestors also carried banners stating that 1 million people have signed the petition against the plant. Tan reiterated that the government should not have issued a second import permit to Lynas, as the company has not built the permanent disposal facility nor has it exported the waste.
"Lynas as a giant Australian company should bear the corporate social responsibility and make sure that the health of local citizens are not affected," said Tan (right)."They have not built the disposal facility until now, but they make use of (the Malaysia government's regulatory weakness) to import a second batch of ROE.”
It is understood that the government had allowed Lynas to operate without a permanent disposal facility as long as it can export all its by-products out of Malaysia.
The Australian company is believed to be in the midst of processing its waste to become by-products which it will then export.
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