Goledzinowski had said yesterday at a high-tea session with the local community in Kuantan, hosted by Lynas, that it would be a tragedy if Lynas were to cease operation as many people would lose their jobs and Pahang’s reputation as an investment-friendly state would be damaged.

Saying Lynas was a pioneer business in Malaysia and would serve to attract more investors if it was successful, Goledzinowski added that “if one company fails, everybody knows”.

Wong said in a statement today: “I would like to point out to him that it will be a tragedy to the people of Malaysia, particularly the community of Kuantan, if we turn a blind eye to pollution issues just to allow corporate gains.

“The further threat by the high commissioner that the closure of Lynas will result in a pullout of Australian investments in Malaysia is an insult to the intelligence and dignity of the Malaysian people.

“I wish to stress that foreign direct investment has no relation to the pollution issue of Lynas. They are two different matters. Lumping them together is illogical, unfair and unreasonable.”

In 2013, Wong said, 1.2 million Malaysians signed a petition calling for the closure of Lynas due to serious concerns of “non-compliance with laws, regulations, international standards, good practices, non-transparency and a highly questionable approval process”.

Wong then listed some of the concerns:

• Lynas did not comply with the directive of the Cabinet in 2012 to remove all its waste, including products made from the waste, from Malaysia;
• The people were not consulted prior to the approval of the plant. No public consultations were carried out except for two sessions by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) “out of an initial series planned which was hastily cancelled after facing angry opposition to the Lynas project and inability to convince the people to accept it”;
• Lynas and AELB did not provide or make public the detailed plan for the permanent waste disposal facility, including its intended location;
• Lynas only did a preliminary environmental impact assessment (EIA) when, in Australia, it would be required to do a full EIA, social impact assessment and a pilot plant;
• Lynas had been granted a 12-year tax holiday “which doesn’t make any sense”. “It has long been a known fact that rare earth processing industries generate a massive amount of costly-to-manage radioactive waste. The waste left behind by Lynas will impose serious environmental, social and health costs burden on the local community and the Malaysian government”; and
• Until today, Lynas has not fully paid up the US$50 million security deposit required which should have been paid before the start of its operations.