Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Maximus Johnity Ongkili may lose out on a month's salary following a motion submitted to Parliament by Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh for his pay to be cut.

NONE Fuziah, who submitted the motion to Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia this morning, also proposed a symbolic RM10 cut from the pay of Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) director-general Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan.

She proposed the cuts, she said, because of failure by Ongkili and Raja Abdul Aziz to adequately inform the relevant authorities about the "hazardous" nature of the Lynas rare earth processing plant, which is under construction in Gebeng, neat Kuantan in Pahang.

"The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and AELB failed to inform the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) and the International Trade and Industry Ministry about the risks and dangers from the investment brought by Lynas Corp," Fuziah said.

She was speaking to reporters afters attending the premier screening of a documentary, Survival Guide to Kampung Radioactive , in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

Furthermore, AELB has failed as a competent regulator because it was only capable of looking at at the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (Lamp) from the aspect of external radiation exposure, she added.

"Aspects of evironmental pollution, public health and its economic impact (on the local people) have been altogether ignored by AELB and Mosti."

‘The people were not consulted’

 

Mosti, Fuziah said, also failed to consult the relevant stakeholders in Kuantan prior to the project being approved, besides there being no public consultation carried out done before work on the plant began at Gebeng.

NONE Alll forms of (later) communication that had taken place until now have not been transparent, and only done after pressure from the public.

She said AELB further disregarded the ninth recommendation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to intensify and make relevant information on the project available to the public.

This was done by invoking Section 41 of the Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984, which disallows disclosure of information obtained under that Act, said Fuziah.

For these reasons and due to public interest, the motion should be discussed in Parliament, she added.

Once completed, Lamp will produce one-third of the world' rare earth supply, outside of China.

Opponents of the plant are concerned about the storage of radioactive thorium-containing slurry the plant will produce as a byproduct and have accused the government of siding with Lynas against public interest.

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