The Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) director-general, Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, has denied that he was hiding information about two extra licences granted to the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp), besides the temporary operating licence.

Instead, he blamed the media for never questioning him over the licences, which are a Class E licence for importing raw materials, and a Class G licence for the storage of residues.

“I have always answered your questions. When you asked about the operating licence, I replied... But you never asked me about the other two.

azlan “If you ask me, I will answer, I do not keep information for the sake of keeping information,” said Raja Abdul Aziz during a weekly media briefing.

When asked whether the media and public have ever known about the issuance of the two licences, he merely responded, “But in my affidavit, I have made it very clear.”

Ten Kuantan residents are seeking leave for a judicial review of the TOL granted to Lamp by the AELB. Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Rohana Yusof had ordered the board to file an affidavit to explain the scope of the licence during a hearing last month.

According to Raja Abdul Aziz’s affidavit yesterday, it stated that the board also granted two extra licences to Lynas besides the TOL.

However, he also stressed that the licences were yet to be issued to Lynas.

Raja Abdul Aziz explained that the two licences were “consequential licences” which were granted along with the TOL.

“If I issued the Class E and Class G license without the Class A licence, they cannot do anything,” he said.

He also clarified that Lynas did not apply for the two licences but it was the board’s decision to grant them along with the TOL.

‘TOL may be issued after the appeal’

Meanwhile, Raja Abdul Aziz also stressed that the board will not consider to issue the TOL before the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry had heard the appeal by three Kuantan residents over the decision to grant the TOL to Lynas by the AELB.

He said that the decision was made during the last meeting of the board on March 22.

As such, Raja Abdul Aziz refuted Lynas’s claim that Lamp is getting ready to operate within three weeks pending on the TOL.

NONE “Lynas’s schedule is Lynas’s schedule, (it is) nothing to do with what we will do.”

He also revealed that the board had successfully identified a third party assessor which will monitor the operations of Lamp once the TOL is issued.

He said that the board will disclose the identity of the company, which is from Britain, once Lynas had agreed to the appointment.

However, he stressed that the company was already verified by the Institution of Engineers Malaysia and the Malaysian Medical Association.

“We did not specify what work they should do, but we will tell them what we want them to do,” added Raja Abdul Aziz.

AELB will only issue the TOL once Lynas complies with several conditions.

This includes an undertaking letter to return the rare earth radioactive waste to the country of origin, a RM1.2 million licensing fee and acceptance of the government’s decision to appoint a third-party assessor to monitor the project throughout the two-year TOL period.