The Information, Communications and Culture Ministry will be holding information sessions to explain clearly the issue of the Lynas rare earths processing plant, in Kuantan next month.

rais yatim pc 020709 01 Its minister Rais Yatim said the people in the Pahang capital need to be briefed properly on the issue because the opposition was trying to twist the facts about safety concerns regarding the plant.

"My ministry is planning huge Komuniti 1Malaysia gatherings in Kuantan in April in the hope that thousands will come to hear the government's side of the story.

 

"The briefings at the entrance of the construction site of the Lynas plant (in Gebeng, Kuantan) will be done to assure the people that their safety worries have no basis," he told reporters after attending a 1Malaysia Komuniti programme in Sungai Petani today.

Also present was the ministry's secretary-general Kamaruddin Siaraf.

Gov’t needs to set record straight

Rais said several quarters especially the opposition and some NGOs had taken advantage of the situation to politicise the issue so much so the people had become confused and believed that the plant posed health risks.

"Thus, it is important for the government to put the records straight," he  said.

On another matter, Rais said the 1Malaysia concept and Government Transformation Programme introduced by Prime Minister Najib Razak had gone down well with the people.

"The changes being brought about by the prime minister is for the good of all Malaysians. The messages he is sending clearly shows the government's sincerity in wanting to help the people. The 1Malaysia People's Aid Progamme (BR1M), schooling aid and pay increase for civil servants are clear examples," he said.

At the function, Rais presented laptops to 10 secondary students from the Sungai Petani parliamentary constituencies and 25 more to NGOs involved in the promotion of culture, food aid to 20 needy recipients and two wheelchairs.

- Bernama