Anti-Lynas NGO Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) will not bow down to the letter of demand by Lynas Sdn Bhd to apologise over the alleged false statements in an open letter the NGO issued to the prime minister on March 21.

Lynas has threatened to sue SMSL and some 44 NGOs for endorsing the open letter, which the Australia miner claimed has caused the injury to its reputation and loss of goodwill.

NONE Commenting on the matter yesterday, SMSL chairperson Tan Boon Teet told Nanyang Siang Pau that a press conference will be called on April 16 along with other NGOs at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly to announce their stance.

“I can’t say much at the moment, but we are already starting to deal with the case. The issue involves a lot of NGOs, and we will issue a joint statement at the press conference later,” he was quoted as saying.

According to Tan, SMSL received the letter of demand asking for an apology and compensation on March 31.

NONE “We can’t accept the conditions. We have already conveyed this through our lawyers,” he said.

Lynas’s lawyers have alleged that SMSL and the NGOs have made “false, destructive, and defamatory statements against Lynas” by imploring Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to stop any shipment of rare earth ore concentrate into Malaysia.

Lynas plays hardball

The company claimed the letter to the PM, in plain meaning, carried the connotations that:

(a) Lynas knowingly and intentionally seeks to cause danger to the health and lives of Malaysians by building, running, and operating the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp), and deliberately places Malaysians in harm’s way through irresponsible pollution of the ground and the air through the discharge of waste water and toxic gas produced by its refining plant,

NONE (b) Lynas is negligent and attempts to deceive the Malaysian public, this being done hand in hand with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), by claiming that the Lamp meets international standards though it fails to do so since, amongst other factors, its plant does not provide for a zero waste water return policy,

(c) Lynas is negligent and attempts to deceive the Malaysian public by refusing to disclose structural defects and faults which have arisen with Lamp, and which pose immediate danger of radioactive leakage,

(d) Lynas has deliberately and consciously deceived its investors as to the reasons for delay of the start of operations for Lamp,

(e) Lynas is not a company that cares about the environment, and through the building and running of Lamp, this would propagate a hazardous operation which no ecologically minded company should or would wish to partner.

Lynas is demanding the open letter to be completely removed from all forms of media that carried it; and SMSL and the other NGOs to apologise and publish “accurate” information as stated by Lynas in the letter.