Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has been urged to clear the air on doubts surrounding the close proximity of the new Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park to the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) in Gebeng, Kuantan.

According to a report in Sinchew Daily today, Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazhong) president Pheng Yin Huah said that Najib has directed through a cabinet decision that a plot of land neigbouring Lamp be alienated to build the 1,500-acre joint industrial park.

The park is the sister project to the Qinzhou Industrial Park launched by Najib and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Guangxi last week.

NONE Pheng said that the location is only 2km away from Lamp, hence the government should explain its handling measures on the rare earth issues before luring foreign investors to the park.

Meanwhile, Australia High Commissioner to Malaysia Miles Kupa has asked Lynas to be given a “fair go” as long as it complied with local laws and requirements.

Bernama reported the Australia envoy as saying Australia tried to support its companies, but the country had no part in their decision-making processes.

Kupa said he had been often asked why Lynas would want to send its raw materials to Malaysia instead of processing it in Australia.

“I tell them this is, of course, Lynas’s decision. It’s their strategy to take the ores from Western Australia and process it in Malaysia for markets right around the world,” he was quoted as saying.