The Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) coalition today walked out of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) public hearing because they could not be guaranteed legal immunity.

SMSL head Tan Boon Teet led the three-member delegation in the walkout, after the PSC said that it had no authority to protect the group legally.

NONE Tan is currently facing a defamation suit by Australian company Lynas Corporation, who intends to operate a rare earth refinery in Gebeng, Pahang - the subject of the PSC’s investigation.

PSC members Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Zulkifli Noordin had told Tan that he should be confident of his testimony if he was presenting facts.

“If you are saying nothing but the naked truth, then you should not be afraid of any defamation suit,” said Zulkifli.

“Then I think we should not waste each other’s time. I should withhold the truth for the  appropriate venue,” replied Tan.

SMSL: Hearing a farce

The hearing was held at Universiti Malaysia Pahang in Kuantan after the six-member PSC visited the plant earlier in the morning.

The PSC today heard testimonies from 18 individuals today representing seven groups.

NONE In a press release later, Tan criticised PSC head Khaled Nordin for jumping the gun this morning by announcing that the Lynas plant is safe, even before the public hearing begun.

“The whole PSC is a charade and a farce if citizen’s right to speak out in the national interest is undermined, first by Lynas and now by our own Parliament,” he said.

Met later, Khaled said he did not expect witnesses to seek legal immunity during the hearing and the PSC was indeed powerless to comply.

Khaled: Outburst was pre-planned

He claimed that Tan had carefully plan for the outburst as press release was distributed right after.

“How can they come out with statement in a blink of eye? They must have prepared it beforehand,” he said.

When asked about the public sentiments today, he opined that there is a lack of understanding on the issue and thus there should be a proper consultation process.

“There is a tendency of them to label Lynas, which is a chemical plant, as a nuclear reactor. 

 

“They also assume what had happened to the Asia Rare Earth (ARE) plant in the past will repeat again on Lynas although the former is sourced from tin, whereas the latter is based on rare earth.

The Higher Education Minister also defended his claim that Lynas was safest plant in the world because it was based on “information given by Lynas”.