The Western Australian state gov't should go fly a kite

LETTER | We too can be firm and must not budge if we are forced to have to ship back 450,000 tonnes of Lynas radioactive wastes stockpiled at the Lynas Corp Ltd rare earths processing plant in Kuantan, Malaysia, back to Australia.

We will do it, whether or not the government in Australia accepts it or not.

If the Philippines government could ship back all rare earth wastes back to Australia without precedent, surely we can follow suit and do likewise.

Like in the game of "Blackjack", when Malaysia holds the thumb, rather the bottom card, we have the "say". So, let's tell Western Australian Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston that his government has to accept the radioactive wastes in Lynas Malaysia, if not to face closure of the plant.

Consequently, the domino effects should include the foreign staff employed or working at Lynas Malaysia. They too have to pack up their bags and go back to Australia.

You see, right now the radioactive wastes at Lynas Malaysia have reached 450,000 tonnes and this quantity increases every day. If this is not shipped back to Australia quickly, it will soon reach the skies.

The Malaysian government has asked for it and should be blamed because if it had listened to the rakyat (the people), who have protested against the operations of Lynas, and even to stop it from setting foot in the country, nothing like this would have happened.

Well, it is not late. After all, the lessons learned have put us in firm ground, good stead and at an advantage because we hold the bottom card.

Okay! Tell the Western Australia state government: So what? If you don't accept the radioactive wastes from Lynas Malaysia back to Australia, we will have no option but to ship it back to Australia - just like what the Philippines government did recently.

Malaysia can go without an investor like Lynas. So, the government should take action to close down Lynas for good. You see, there always are other investors looking to invest in Malaysia. And, most importantly, we don't want a foreign investor to put Malaysia under its control.

Thereafter, the residents will get to breathe fresh air again, let alone, live without radioactive wastes anymore.

This is my call to the Pakatan Harapan government. Now you see, no one in the world wants to hold on to any radioactive wastes or residues from rare earth plants. Obviously, there are health risks and hazards to have such wastes around.

The Harapan government should cancel the operation licence of the Lynas plant immediately. That should close down Lynas.

In actual fact, we all see the risks and fears demonstrated by the Australian government and what the Philippines had done to the radioactive wastes there.

Yes! The Harapan government should do the needful and close down the Lynas operations in Malaysia for the sake of the people's health.

LAU BING is a community activist and writer based in Subang Jaya.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.