Press Statement of Save Malaysia Stop Lynas on 20th March 2013

Press statement of Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL)
Lynas latest Spin is an Act of Desperation

March20, 2013

The erroneous statement issued by Lynas Corporation on Monday 18th March that SMSL has now exhausted all avenues of appeal to challenge its temporary operating licence (TOL) grossly distorted the truth. Lynas posted the statement on its website

http://www.lynascorp.com/Announcements/2013/Federal%20Court%20Dismisses%20Challenge%20by%20SMSL%20180313%201205547.pdf

following the dismissal of the case brought about by the Stop Lynas Coalition (SLC) on Monday. SMSL is NOT a party to the SLC case and our legal team is still in the midst of preparing for further legal challenges.

SMSL spokesperson Mr Tan Bun Teet says, “Lynas’ statement is legally and factually incorrect. It goes to show how desperate Lynas is to the point of distorting the truth of its legal challenges in Malaysia. There are several Stop Lynas groups fighting the same cause for strategic reason. It is irresponsible of Lynas to have so grossly misrepresented the fact and misinformed the market to distract its shareholders and investors’ attention from the plant’s real problems and challenges in Malaysia.”

Mr Tan is one of the Kuantan residents who has filed a judicial review case in the court based on issues identified by legal, scientific and engineering experts to revoke the Lynas temporary operating licence (TOL). Lynas shares value shot up briefly following its erroneous announcement, crossing its long-held low 60c margin before settling back to 59c at the close of yesterday’s stock market.

The legal avenue available to challenge the Lynas TOL is far from exhausted. Cases are still being prepared. The general election which is overdue in Malaysia is now a strong campaigning point for the Stop Lynas groups. Efforts are now being put into getting voters to cast their votes for candidates who have pledged to shut down the Lynas plant.

Haji Ismail Abu Bakar another case applicant lamented, “Lately residents are outraged because their water supplies have been cut off unannounced and the water pressure at peak time has been exceedingly low. We know Lynas will be using a lot of water for its processing. We have never had these problems until recently. This coming election the Stop Lynas campaign will go all out to get voters to use their democratic right to shut down the plant.”


Malaysian environmental law is over 20 years out of date with no reference or limits for many of the toxic substances soon to be produced by the Lynas plant despite the bitter and tragic lessons from the now closed Mitsubishi rare earth plant in Bukit Merah. The Atomic Energy Licensing Board has failed the Bukit Merah people and it is now failing the people of Kuantan by issuing Lynas its TOL.

By issuing Lynas its temporary operating licence, the Government has failed in its duty of care to regulate Lynas and to protect the rakyat and Malaysia’s natural resources from dangerous hazards and pollution.

“The public has donated generously to give SMSL adequate resources to fight until the end to shut down the Lynas plant. We will pursue every single legal avenue available out there and campaign in every possible way to vote to shut Lynas down. Our future is too precious to be ruined by a profit-seeking foreign company that pays no tax.” Mr Tan reiterates the stance of SMSL.