Monday 27 February 2012

On the issue of Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) : Fact or Fiction ?

Wen Kai Jien: I have no clue what is LYNAS nor do I know where is Gebeng; but one thing I know, I hate the BN Government, so whatever Pakatan DAP says is the truth!

Fatimah Zuhri: hmmm... :-|

Wen Kai Jien: OMG!!!! LYNAS is a nuclear power plant!!! :-(

Fatimah Zuhri: Calm down dear! First of all, Lynas is an Australian company involved in processing rare earth. Second, the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant in Gebeng, Pahang is a chemical processing plant; not a nuclear plant.

Wen Kai Jien: You are a liar!!! Lynas is a nuclear power plant! Lim Guan Eng told me, my mother, my aunt, my grandmother, my great grandmother etc it is a nuclear power plant! Lim Guan Eng can never lie...ever! *grrrrr*

Fatimah Zuhri: Can you please provide a proof that says LAMP is a nuclear power plant project? Other than Pakatan media of course I have not found any... :-)

Wen Kai Jien: ..............

Wen Kai Jien: I am not naive ok!!! Lynas is bad news!!! Lynas should go back to Australia, dammit!

Fatimah Zuhri: Look, Lynas came to Malaysia for economic reason. Lynas met all the regulations and approvals to build a processing plant in Australia but still chose Malaysia. We manage to attract them by providing good infrastructure, skilled workforce and attractive tax incentive.

Wen Kai Jien: You have no idea what rare earth is, so shutup! I told you I am not naive!!!! Lim Guan Eng do not lie!!!

Fatimah Zuhri: Then stop being such a spoil brat and start listen to reason. Rare earths are a unique group of fifteen chemical elements and it can be found in many parts of the world. Many modern equipments/devices use rare earth components.

Wen Kai Jien: Really meh? Like what if you soooo smart one????

Fatimah Zuhri: Let me list just a few of them down. You can google the rest if you want. :-)

Yttrium - used in producing LED television as well as treatment for ovarian and bone cancer.
Lanthanum - used in making battery for hybrid cars. Also used in vacuum tubes, camera and telescope lenses.
Neodymium - used in making headphone, microphone and speakers.
Europium- used in screening for down syndrome and genetic diseases

Wen Kai Jien: But it is radioactive!!! It has that Thorium thing that can make your children have legs in their bodies!!! I told you I am smart, just like my mentor Lim Guan Eng! :-)

Fatimah Zuhri: I'm sorry, but you are wrong again. Rare earth elements are not radioactive on their own. However, if you start extracting nor concentrating the Thorium, then it will be radioactive. In Lynas's case, they are neither extracting nor concentrating the Thorium. Therefore, the low level of radiation remains the same.

Wen Kai Jien: It has Thorium!!!!

Fatimah Zuhri: It has very low level of Thorium. Remember, there are 15 elements. Thorium is just one of them and the concentration is low. It is more dangerous mining bijih timah than mining rare earth. :-)

Wen Kai Jien: Why Lynas is given tax free status for 12 years????!!!

Fatimah Zuhri: Simple. They were given tax incentive under the Pioneer Status. Every Government in this world provides tax incentive to companies that want to come to their country. What so strange about that? When INTEL open their factories in Penang, we also gave them tax incentives. What is the big problem?

Wen Kai Jien: Why not do it in Australia ???!!!

Fatimah Zuhri: I told you already. Both Malaysia and Australia can provide skilled workforce and good infrastructure. Both country have no problem with Lynas in term of meeting safety standard. But Lynas being a business entity chose Malaysia because Malaysia gave a better tax incentive.

Wen Kai Jien: Then Malaysia will rugi la???!!!

Fatimah Zuhri: No, it won't. We are hoping that the Lynas project will create direct and indirect jobs for Malaysian. Just imagine, Lynas will require thousands of local engineers to oversee this project. Also, these engineers need to eat, buy groceries, send their children to tuition centre, etc... It will be beneficial to Pahang in the long term.

We also hope that this project will attract other high tech companies to come and setup their plants/factories/research centre here.

Wen Kai Jien: Why Lynas is using Chinese standard ?

Fatimah Zuhri: That is an outright lie. Lynas did not use the Chinese standard.Only one of the Lynas residues contains a very low level of radiation at 6 Bq/g. This is well within acceptable international standards. In contrast, the residue from some Chinese facilities is 74 Bq/g. There is no comparison between the two.

Wen Kai Jien: Lynas is going to make a lot of profit dammit !!!

Fatimah Zuhri: Since when it is wrong for a company to make money? Tell me, in the Chinese society, since when did it became Haram for a business to make money? :-)

Wen Kai Jien: But but but....the Australian Govt themselves said that they would not allow this rare earth plant to be setup in their country!

Fatimah Zuhri: That is a lie. The Lynas plant was approved in Australia many years ago but the simple fact is it's far cheaper to process in Malaysia than in Australia. There are also other rare earth plants planned for Australia (lookup Arafura and Alkane) and a rare-earth plant in California (Molycorp).

Wen Kai Jien: But but but....Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Norman Moore said  “Australia does not support the importation and storage of other countries’ radioactive waste”.


Fatimah Zuhri: Mr Moore is not the Australian government; importation of waste is not controlled by State Governments. The Australian Federal Government is the only level of government that has exclusive power to legislate in relation to foreign affairs. It has passed a law known as the Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989 which regulates the importation of waste into Australia. All that is needed is a permit from the Federal Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water , Population and Communities. The Act implements Australia's treaty obligations under the Basel Convention for transnational transportation of waste.

It is my understanding however that no permit will be required as the material Lynas will be producing will be so low in radioactivity that it does not constitute waste for the purpose of teh Basel convention.

Wen Kai Jien: You maybe right but I hate BN; that is why I am all out against Lynas.

Fatimah Zuhri: Yep I knew that from the start. Just like the rest of the people who have joined the anti-Lynas bandwagon, their motivation is purely political. You do not understand the issue. You're so filled with hate that you cant think objectively. Your objective is to get people angry at the Government so that they will chose Pakatan DAP as the new Govt come GE13.

Malaysian are smarter than that, Mr Wen Kai Jien!


Good links to find out about the truth on Lynas:
http://www.lynasandmalaysia.com/
http://info4thetruth.blogspot.com/2012/02/demi-kebenaran-kami-terpaksa-dedahkan.html