government sends clear message to business

MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT SENDS CLEAR MESSAGE TO BUSINESS

As said in the recent article “LYNAS – PART OF THE MALAYSIAN FUTURE” at http://rareearthfuture.com/2012/10/30/lynas-%E2%80%93-part-of-the-malaysian-future/ “the Malaysian government courted Lynas and persuaded it to establish operations there, offering many incentives.”

Assurances were given of continuing government support, provided all approval conditions were met. Lynas has met all those conditions, and more. However, in spite of complying with everything asked of it, the approval process has since been repeatedly delayed by the refusal of a small but vocal group to accept the decision of the AELB.

Now that decision by the AELB cannot be overturned, delayed or altered by the courts. The legislation says so. An appeal may only be made directly to the Minister within 30 days. The Atomic Energy Licencing ACT 1984, Act 304 which can be found at http://www.aelb.gov.my/aelb/malay/dokumen/perundangan/act304.pdf says in Part VII Sect 5 on page 22: “The Minister may, after hearing the appeal, make an order confirming or setting aside the decision of the appropriate authority or make such other order as he thinks fit, and the order of the Minister shall be final and shall not be subject to any appeal or review in any court.” (My emphasis)

There was an appeal made to the Minister, outside the allowable time-frame, by the way. That appeal was considered and DISMISSED. Accordingly to the legislation, that should have been the end of the matter as that is the only opportunity for any disagreement with the decision or decision making process to be aired. “The order of the Minister shall be final” is very definite yet we have now had a series of court actions taken to delay and ultimately stop the project.

The court has no jurisdiction in this matter. Why has the government stood meekly aside and allowed the meddling to go where the legislation specifically says it can’t go?

I can only think that the government is now reneging on its commitment to support Lynas and is happy to delay the process to get some political advantage.

This sends a very clear message to a business considering a Malaysian operation: “DON’T BELIEVE A WORD WE SAY.”