Anti-Lynas, I support!

Today, I want to lend my whole-hearted support to the Anti-Lynas movement who had been campaigning long and hard on the need to protect the future and the environment of this country. If at first, I had been bloody ignorant of their cause  ( forgive me for this! ) , I wish to say that after doing a lot of reading and research on this matter, I find there is an awful lot of truth in what they are fighting for and support is crucially important for the future of our generations. It is the scientific harms, ills and after effects of radiation exposure that had not been clearly explained by the government and the operators. To me , it is really shoddy work on the part of the government of the day and the Pahang state government. I seriously do understand what is so difficult for the Pahang state government to understand about the dangers that are involved. Forget about the job opportunities created and the monetary gains from it for the ones who are going to suffer the consequences and scientific ills are going to be the Pahang people themselves. We have had a disastrous precedent in the Bukit Merah plant incident and mind you, clearing and cleaning up works are still on-going since 1994. Well, if it is safe, why don't the state government build the plant in Pekan town or Putrajaya for that matter, just to prove a point that it is environmentally "safe" ? Heck! Might as well buy a house next to Lynas plant and stay there for a few years, inhale some lead plus consume some radon and get some radioactive sun-burn for that matter ! Wouldn't that be great then? (Sigh!) Logically, I believe these leaders had not done their background check and homework on this matter and blindly approved this project as usual without weighing the aspect of environmental safety for its people and the land. Look, the Bukit Merah plant which was started by Asian Rare Earth, the Mitsubishi Chemicals subsidiary is a good example of harmful environmental conditions. This plant which was started in 1982 was shut down in 1994 ( Ironically , after ripping the profits for 12 years too!!! )  when hazardous effects took its toll on the people who had worked in the plant and those living near the plant. There are plenty of articles to read from if one is hardworking enough to do some checking in the internet. Imagine US $100million clean-up exercise had been undertaken ever since and still on-going according to the electronic media today

The gist of it all is simply this: There is a lot of dangers involved in the processing of rare earth (RE) metals especially with the mixture of radioactive substances to extract the valuable RE ; leaving behind the harmful substances in Gebeng, Kuantan. That is my simple take on the matter and these harmful substances will be stored in Kuantan and THAT IS SCARY, folks! Pure greed , pure greed of money profiteering is what I see next! It is so sad that our land , the people's well-being as well as the country's integrity could be sold/traded for a fistful of dollars by the government of the day!  

The radioactive substances release radiation and two major toxic materials – radon gas and lead. Radon is a colorless, odorless toxic gas. When it gets into the human body through inhalation, it can damage cells and cause cancer. As for lead, many years ago petrol gas been changed from leaded to unleaded, as we didn’t want lead to be released to the air through our car exhaust. Lead can harm the nervous system, and cause brain and blood diseases. In short, two key hazards can be found in Gebeng RE plant – the radiation and the toxic materials.The RE raw material ( in powder or sand form ) arrives at the Kuantan port, then gets transported to Gebeng by truck, where it is unloaded, transferred and processed. Waste gas from chimneys, the waste water disposed into the Balok River, the solid wastes that are stored in Gebeng – possibly in all of the above we can find the radioactive substances, which can emit radiation, radon and lead, wherever and whenever they are present. Radon gas and lead in general do not affect our body externally, as we are protected by our skin. However, if these radioactive materials contaminate the solid waste, waste water and waste gas, they will be released to the atmosphere, water streams and eventually the food chain. Once the radioactive materials enter the human body via inhalation, ingestion and wound penetration, the radiation, radon and lead will be released inside the body and these can cause very serious consequences.

So wake up, people and let's lend our support to the Anti-Lynas group. Let's make our land a better and safer place to live in. Why? Simply because the next time you are in Kuantan town to buy a drink, you might think twice on getting a drink because you might not know where the source of the water is coming from...... Gebeng, perhaps? Afterall, contamination of water source knows no boundaries, right?