Lynas Corporation Must Seek Permission To Ship Waste Back To Australia

KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia), March 27 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government is firm on its condition for Lynas Corporation (Lynas Corp) to obtain permission from the Australian authority to ship its waste residue back home from its rare earth plant in Kuantan, Pahang, said Science, Technology and Innovations Minister, Dr Maximus Ongkili. He said, so far, Australia had not formally communicated with Malaysia on its intention to reject waste residue from the Lynas Corp plant. "They (Lynas Corp) are the investors coming here. We are here to invite investors, of course, we are here to facilitate, but we are not going to work for you (Lynas). "We have set conditions and they must qualify. If they fail to do so, they have to seek another place for the purpose of disposal," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby, here on Tuesday. The government had set five special conditions to enable Lynas Corp to obtain the Temporary Operating Licence under Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) including to determine a location for Permanent Disposal Facility (PDF). However should the company fail to do so, Lynas Corp will have to submit a letter of undertaking to transfer all its residue generated, outside the country. Meanwhile, Ongkili said, a nine-member evaluation panel comprising experts from government agencies and private bodies had been set up to conduct an engineering audit of the proposed plant. "We want them to do spot checks, because people are questioning are they doing the right thing?" he said. Earlier, when winding up the motion of thanks on the Royal address for the ministry at the Dewan Rakyat, Ongkili pointed out that all actions taken by the government were based on current regulations and procedures as well as complying with international standards. He said the government would always make improvements and seek the involvement of the public particularly the residents around Kuantan so that everyone received correct information on the matter. -- BERNAMA