Members of Lynas review committee announced, Fuziah dropped

A file photo of the The Lynas Advanced Materials Plant in Gebeng, Kuantan.

KUANTAN: The Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry has announced the members of the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) executive review committee.

Minister Yeo Bee Yin said the Cabinet had decided on Oct 10 that the committee should be made up of individuals who had not previously voiced their stance openly - whether they supported or opposed Lynas' operations.

"This is to avoid any party from questioning the credibility of the committee due to its members' stand," she said in a statement issued on Monday (Oct 15).

On the list of names were Institute for Environment and Development research fellow Prof Datuk Dr Mazlin Mokhtar, United Nations University - International Institute for Global Health visiting professor Prof Dr Jamal Hisham Hashim and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Occupational Safety, Health and Environment unit director Prof Dr Maketab Mohamed.

Also in the committee were Universiti Putra Malaysia faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Community Health Department Assoc Prof Anita Abdul Rahman, Universiti Malaysia Pahang's Earth Resources and Sustainability Centre director Assoc Prof Dr Muzamir Hasan and former director of the Department of Environment's Air and Hazardous Substances division Datin Paduka Che Asmah Ibrahim.

Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh, who had earlier been announced as the chairman, was not in the revamped committee.

Fuziah had previously said that she was prepared to step down to avoid being used as ammunition to criticise the committee's findings.

Yeo said the ministry had scrutinised the membership of the review committee and was of the opinion that every candidate had expertise in the relevant field such as environmental management, public health and radioactive safety.

She said the committee was responsible for an objective, transparent and open review for the interest of every party, whereby the proceedings would be opened to the public.

"The objective of the executive committee is to evaluate the LAMP's operations including the safety, health and environment aspects," she said, adding that review would also be done on the extension of time for scheduled waste storage.

Yeo said that the committee had been given six weeks to perform the review and submit a report and recommendations to the government.