Wee blasts Pakatan over Lynas' licence renewal

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has taken a swipe at the Pakatan Harapan government for renewing rare earth producer Lynas Malaysia’s licence despite earlier promises to get rid of the plant.

The MCA president said Pakatan had used the tagline of #SaveMalaysiaStopLynas in its previous campaigns, but it seemed now that their tagline should be #SaveMalaysiaKeepLynas.

“There will be an anti-Lynas rally this Sunday (Aug 18) organised by the same group of people who supported Pakatan during the last general election.

“The group said they want to burn the Pakatan manifesto in order to send a message to the government.

“Previously, Bentong MP Wong Tack, who had been in the forefront in opposing Lynas when he was the then opposition, said he would burn down the Lynas factory after winning the election, ” Dr Wee said in a Facebook on Thursday (Aug 15).

Dr Wee criticised Wong for making inconsistent statements and slogans condemning Lynas while at the same time, bowing to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who supported Lynas.

“You should be solving problems since you are now part of the system.

“If you can’t defend the interest of the people, it’s better that you go home and sell sweet potato, ” he said.

Dr Wee also questioned if Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh would join the rally on Sunday.

“Will the burning of the manifesto really wake Pakatan up to deliver their election promises?” he added.

The government has given a conditional six-month licence renewal to Lynas Malaysia on Thursday.

The Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) said in a statement that there were certain conditions to be met in regard to its processing of waste.

The conditions were that Lynas would have to move its cracking and leaching process, currently conducted at its plant in Gebeng, Kuantan, out of the country.

This means that the company would have to put forward a plan to build a “cracking and leaching” facility overseas which should start operating within four years of the date the licence is given.