Apologise over remarks on Lynas, Dr Wee tells Guan Eng

Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong (left) and Lim Guan Eng

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has called on Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to apologise over his previous "baseless rant" on Lynas.

The MCA president made the call with regard  to a video clip showing Lim, who was then Penang chief minister, berating the rare earths processing plant, saying that the then Pakatan Harapan Opposition was against the "nuclear plant".

"Now that he has been installed as a very powerful Finance Minister, does he remember the content of the speech he delivered," Dr Wee said in his Facebook post on Sunday (June 2).

He called on netizens to reflect on Lim's speech, including the hashtag #DuluLainSekarangLain (before it was different, now it is different).

In the one-minute 32-second video clip, Lim can be heard addressing a crowd, saying that Pakatan would oppose Lynas and stop its operations here.

Lim also said all Malaysians, irrespective of race, would be affected if the Lynas plant explode, as there was a nuclear plant.

"Keeping quiet? Where did the nuclear plant go? Still dangerous?

"Or the nuclear effect has vanished after Pakatan's rule?" Dr Wee questioned.

He said that Lim should apologise and retract his baseless statement.

On Thursday (May 30), Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia will allow Australian rare earths producer Lynas Corp to keep operating its rare earths processing plant in Gebeng, Pahang.

Dr Mahathir's comments removed the uncertainty that had been hanging over the future of Lynas' US$800mil (RM3.35bil) plant, after Malaysia halted the process for renewing its licence because of waste disposal concerns.

Australia has since has welcomed the Malaysian government’s intention to renew the operating licence of Lynas.