lynas workers “exposed”

http://rareearthfuture.com/

My first day working for Lynas Corporation some years ago began with a massive feeling of interest and anticipation.

Here was a company starting out, doing what few had done before in an industry that was hugely important to the future world. Its vision was to produce a product that was vital but still relatively unknown to all of us and certainly a mystery to me despite my mining and manufacturing background.

I did my research. Wow, Rare Earths. The modern world is addicted to them but almost totally unaware of their origin and capabilities.

What’s not to like about a company that is producing a product to enhance the environment, provide digital technology smaller and more technically advanced, and improve the efficiency of our energy reserves? If I wanted a “green” company to work for, I could not have done better! Sure, they dig stuff out of the ground to produce these marvelous products but the world is full of companies that mine and make products that contribute to the world’s pollution.

NOT this one.

Building a company from scratch is not easy. I learnt that the hard way. The ups and downs of a start-up are magnified, each successful milestone is celebrated loudly, each failure, or “bump in the road”, results in significant delays and unfortunately staff layoffs. Not many companies change their workforce levels by 40 – 50% each 6 months.

Doing business in another country also brings its challenges. Malaysia was an extremely appealing business partner for Lynas once the decision went against China because of export restrictions. An inviting Malaysian government, highly skilled labour at the right cost, superb infrastructure and a proximity to customers made for a welcome landscape in which to build, prosper and partner with the local community.

However, experiences over the last couple of years in Malaysia show this may have been a dud decision! At the very least, as an employee, you wonder what you did to deserve this mess. To someone sharing the Lynas vision of being the number one Rare Earth company in the world, the delays seem insurmountable and beyond the Company’s control.

All the necessary approvals have been received; all the scientific evidence supports a safe and efficient operation; the employees are there, patiently waiting to exercise the skills that they were employed to undertake; the Kuantan community is waiting to become recognised as an important contributor to the technological revolution on the east coast of Malaysia, which will keep their best and brightest from leaving their shores; and the customers of these vitally important products wait to service the needs of an ever increasing world demand.

How could Lynas control or even anticipate the Malaysian government changing their minds so often on the issue of an operating license? Opposition groups continue to be a significant factor in the government’s decision making. Their relentless politicization of the Lynas operation in order to secure votes, their baseless claims and their ignorance of the truth, have contributed to a paralysis of process.

The employees are a forgotten consequence in this debacle. We had a vision of making a huge difference in developing and sustaining a greener world but now have to twiddle our thumbs while the wheels of bureaucracy turn ever so slowly and even reverse when they feel like it.

Lynas will succeed, there is no doubt. The employees who joined and formed such a strong bond and continue to unite will be vindicated. Just because they don’t shout from the treetops and march on the local courthouse does not mean they aren’t angry about this ridiculous situation. They just need the opportunity to use the skills for which they were employed, like every other chemical worker on the Gebeng industrial estate.

Although no longer employed by Lynas, I strongly support the project and workers.

by PRIMAJ