A small group of Kuantan residents held a small protest this morning outside the Malaysian Nuclear Agency in Bangi, Selangor, where a hearing on the appeal against the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) was being held.

Led by the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) committee chairperson Tan Bun Teet, the 30-strong crowd raised a banner and chanted “Stop Lynas” and “Lynas go back to Australia”.

NONE About police personnel, uniformed as well as special branch, showed up at the scene but did not interfere with the protest.

Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) Maximus Ongkili was hearing an appeal from three Kuantan residents against the Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s (AELB) decision to issue a temporary operating licence (TOL) to the Lynas plant.

Today’s appeal is critical as its outcome will determine if AELB will proceed to issue the TOL.

The three appellants are SMSL committee deputy chairperson Ismail Abu Bakar and two Kuantan residents, Tan Ah Meng and Abujavalli V Raman.

NONE Their counsel comprises Pahang Bar Council president Bastion Vandargon, Hon Kai Ping and A Pani.

Their expert witnesses are professor Chan Chee Koon, Dr Lee Chee Hong, Mat Azhar and a representative from the Malaysian Medical Association, Mat Lazim.

On April 12 the residents’ leave application for a judicial review against the issuing of the TOL was rejected.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court in its decision cited the appeal pending with Mosti as the reason for rejecting the application, saying a judicial review would undermine the latter's appeal process.

Rare earth gift for Ongkili

The proceedings today that began at 10am through to the afternoon, was closed to the public and the media.

Outside, the protesters waited with two flower pots, which they claimed contain soil taken from the permanent disposal facility of the Bukit Merah Asia Rare Earth plant in Perak.

They hoped to present the flower pots along with some flowers to the minister.

However, Ongkili didn’t show up to meet with the people after the hearing and they only managed to hand over the “gift” to his press secretary.

Nevertheless, there was no decision after the four-hour hearing today as Ongkili claimed that he needed to consult experts and other authorities before making any decision.

“Maximus Ongkili will study the documents tendered and submitted to him and weigh the arguments based on the grounds of appeal,” said a statement issued by Mosti after the hearing.

The statement noted that the minister had heard and went through the 14 points raised by the counsels of the appellant and the testimonies by the four expert witnesses to support a number or issues the appellants deemed pertinent.

“The minister also called four people to give expert evidence, including an assessor from the Public Consultation Assessment Committee, the Department of Environment (DoE) and an academician.”

Speaking to the press after the hearing, the main appellant Ismail Abu Bakar said Ongkili seemed “not agreeable” to the arguments raised but noted that the minister was a good listener and friendly.

The experts also shared their views which they raised during the hearing.

As an independent chemist, Mat Azhar said the minister was told that the Water Leach Purification (WLP), which is radioactive waste produced by the plant, contained a “very high level” of heavy metal.

According to a document he managed to obtain, the waste contained cadmium, chromium, nickel and lead, but these were not stated in the preliminary environmental impact assessment report provided by the DoE.

“WLP also contains a very high (level of) heavy metal, like cadmium, kromium, nickel and lead, but it was not stated in the EIA, but during the evaluation DOE could not spot this,” he claimed.