An open town hall-like meeting is not an option for the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (Lamp) review panel, which is seeking public views and not a dialogue, said a minister.

International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said a public meeting would be untenable as the nine-member panel needs to collect objective views without having to deal with high emotions, which are bound to come with a large-scale meeting.

NONE "If you get one or two thousand people, it defeats the purpose (of the panel's fact-finding mission)," he said at a press conference today.

"Don't politicise this, and don't make this an emotional issue. The panel needs to hear the views (from stakeholders) objectively."

Yesterday, Kuantan MP and PKR vice-president Fuziah Salleh called for at least one public session with the panel, arguing that it should be done in the interest of transparency.

She said it would be hard to know if the arguments put forward during the private hearings are “converging”.

Mustapa pointed out that the secretariat set up to help arrange the panel hearings has already sent out invites to numerous stakeholders including political parties, the Pahang Bar, doctors and residents’ associations.

azlan “Having a town hall meeting may not be very effective... we have put up advertorials asking all stakeholders to request for representation and we will accommodate as many as possible in the three days the panel will hold its hearings,” he said.

Mustapa explained that the panel, which will be here from May 29 to June 3, will spend its first day in the country updating themselves on the issue’s background and current status before going straight for two days of hearings in Kuantan, Pahang on May 30-31.

‘Don’t pre-judge panel’

The minister said he was aware of the scepticism surrounding the panel’s credibility, especially since it was formed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which detractors brushed aside as being decidedly pro-nuclear.

He stressed however that it would be unreasonable to assume that this panel is unqualified to conduct the study on the plant’s safety and overall viability in Malaysia.

“The IAEA is the highest authority in nuclear (technology). They were involved in Chernobyl and Fukushima, and they were awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for their work... if I am sick, you can’t expect me to see a journalist. I should go see an expert,” he said.

azlan Mustapa side-stepped several questions related to the Lynas controversy, instead repeatedly saying that the issue should not be “pre-judged, politicised or made an emotional issue”.

“It is an independent, international and they are experts They are foreigners with no Malaysians, Australians or Chinese nationals to avoid conflict of interest... we even thought of that and we are confident the panel will look at the entire value chain from (the project’s) start to finish,” Mustapa said.

Mustapa had last May 13 formally announced the nine-member panel, which is led by IAEA Department of Nuclear Energy director (nuclear fuel cycle and waste technology division) Dr Tero Varjoranta of Finland. His team will include three other IAEA experts and five external experts.

A link to the biodata of all nine panel members is available here .