Govt to look into calls for Lynas closure, says Dr M

PUTRAJAYA: A day after giving rare earth producer Lynas a six-month extension for its operating permit, the government says that it will look into calls for the plant to be shut down.

However, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said an investigation was conducted on Lynas' activities in Gebeng, Kuantan and found there was no danger.

"I must admit that when the manifesto was drawn up, many things were not known to us.

"Now we find different information, and we have to respond to those information. In the case of Lynas, there was an investigation and it was declared that there is no danger.

"But of course, the people there still feel that we should get rid of this (the plant) from the site.

"Okay, we will look into that, " he said after visiting AirAsia's headquarters on Friday (Aug 16).

On Lynas being given four years to build a "cracking and leaching" facility overseas, the Prime Minister said despite the deadline, the government hoped that Lynas would do it quickly.

On a rally to be held on Sunday (Aug 18) which would involve the burning of Pakatan Harapan's manifesto, the Prime Minister said this would not resolve anything.

"They can burn the manifesto but we have to deal with this issue in a common-sense way.

"You can't just go around burning manifestos and expect everything to be resolved.

"I'm quite sure that if you burn all the manifesto, it doesn't resolve everything, but it will just make people angry, " he said.

The government has renewed Lynas Malaysia's licence for another six months, but with conditions attached.

The Atomic Energy Licensing Board said the government agreed to renew Lynas' operating licence but there were certain conditions to be met regarding its processing of waste.