wong tack says lynas operation illegal

PETALING JAYA (April 10, 2013): A non-government organisation ( NGO) claims that the Lynas plant is illegal despite the recent appointment of an Operations Monitoring Committee (OMC), seen as another move to disguise controversy surrounding the plant.

Himpunan Hijau chairman Wong Tack, who is contesting in the general election in Bentong on a DAP ticket, stressed that neither the public nor environmental NGOs will compromise their stand just because Lynas has fulfilled another recommendation made by the Parliamentary Select Committee.

"The setting up of the plant did not comply with the law in the first place. Furthermore, the members of this committee should have been appointed two years before the plant even started operations, not two weeks before elections," he told theSun.

"All this shows that Lynas will never be able to prove it is a responsible organisation because of a history of lying and cheating.

"The people have also lost confidence in the government in guarding the public's interests," he added.

Wong said the committee's full membership list, scope of monitoring and methodology have not been disclosed and this only instils doubt.

"Only the head of the committee and a spokesperson have been identified, but what of the others? What are each member's specifications? Will the committee make all its reports public?" he questioned.

"If Lynas came in through the back door, they should get out through the back door and not try to disguise themselves behind so-called responsible moves," he said.

Malaysian Institute of Chemistry president Datuk Dr Soon Ting Kueh was appointed chairman of the OMC on Saturday with Universiti Malaysia Pahang deputy vice-chancellor Prof Dr Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz as Lynas spokesperson.