Save Malaysia
Stop Lynas (SMSL) calls on all concerned individuals, organisations and
political parties to join us in force to show the Government that Malaysians
want a clean and safe future.
Join us to show
the Government that you will stand up for your rights, to protect your
investment and your family to build a strong, healthy and clean nation for all
Malaysians.
Each and every
one of us have toiled and worked hard to better our life and to provide for our
family. We have invested precious time, energy and money to make our home, our
family, our work, our businesses and our country better and safer.
Every day, millions
of ordinary Malaysians- young and old, men and women, boys and girls strive to
better our life at work, at home, at school and at play.
We want to be
proud Malaysians and we want to take pride in our effort!
Now, one foreign
company, Australia’s Lynas Corporation is threatening to change our hope and contaminate
our future by building the world’s biggest rare earth plant on our shore – entirely
tax-free!
We the working
citizens of Malaysia have been paying taxes to build our nation. Yet we are now expected to live with a giant
rare earth plant. This is not the deal
we have worked for!
If the Lynas
project is not stopped, Malaysia will be tarnished with a bad image for housing
the world’s biggest rare earth waste dump for an Australian company.
We will no
longer be sure if our fresh seafood will be safe enough to eat, if the water we
drink will be clean and free from contamination and if the air we breathe in will
be free of radioactive particles or any other pollutants.
Our beautiful
beaches and the South China Sea may also be ruined. Who would want to spend their holiday next to
the world’s largest rare earth refinery plant?
What is the
point of our hard work and investment if in return all we get is living in the
shadow of Lynas’ pollution?
Malaysia will
be a laughing stock of the world whilst Lynas and its shareholders will be
laughing to the bank cashing in their hefty profit on our government’s
generosity and foolishness!
Remember - the
tragedies endured by the locals and workers at Bukit Merah – from early deaths;
from terminal cancer, birth defects, miscarriages and numerous more cases of
cancer even until today. Our Government
has failed to prevent that. The
government has done nothing about the health issues affecting the community.
Mitsubishi’s Asian
Rare Earth (ARE) plant was shut down more than twenty years ago, yet the Atomic
Energy Licensing Board (AELB), the authority responsible for the clean-up work
has failed to clear away all of the toxic waste dumped by the rare earth plant.
This is despite the US$100 million clean-up costs paid for by Mitsubishi. Today,
piles of toxic waste are still left where they were ditched, continuing to
contaminate the land and the water, posing health risks and hazards to
unsuspecting locals.
It is outrageous
that even with that failure, the AELB is set to issue an operating licence to
Lynas. By right, the government should
carefully clean-up the Bukit Merah mess to protect tax paying citizens and
members of the public, not bringing another plant ten times bigger with
hundreds of times more waste. To date,
none of the ARE workers were tested for occupational related health issues.
Remember - the Lynas plant is situated in
an environmentally and socially sensitive area of Malaysia.
Through our strong Stop Lynas protest
actions in Pahang and in Kuala Lumpur, we have managed to create some pressure
on the government – to delay the issuing of the operating licence and to
institute several inquiries. According
to Lynas, it is losing A$10 million with every month of delay. The battle is not
over until the rare earth plant is STOPPED.
The Lynas rare earth plant is a not a
Kuantan issue but a national problem which every thinking Malaysian must take
responsibility for – to OPPOSE and STOP it before it is too late.
Even though the Stop Lynas campaign is the
biggest and strongest ever environmental campaign in Malaysia, we still have a
long way to go to STOP IT. We MUST
PERSIST and fight until the end.
If we fail to stop Lynas and if BN return
to power at the next election, we will have nuclear power plants, the Pengerang
petro-chemical estate, and many more toxic and dangerous industries on our
shores!
Malaysians, if we do not stand up together
to fight this big battle against Lynas now, we will have little chance of
winning any of the others.
Advanced countries have tightened their
environmental law to control pollution because of the threat of climate change.
They will be many fugitive companies looking for a lax haven to park their
dirty investment to escape strict laws and heavy taxes.
Malaysia must be the pride of ASEAN, not a
dumping ground for the run-away polluters. The first step for us to reclaim our
pride and our dignity is to stand together to FIGHT Lynas.
Let us make our votes count. Let us show
our government we are decent human beings as good as those living in advanced
countries. We want a future we can be proud of and stand tall to share with our
family and friends.
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