KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia protesters in Kuantan told Bikyamasr.com on early Sunday afternoon that they had made it past police barricades and were demonstration against Australia's Lynas rare-earths plant close to the facility. “We have done it and are now much closer to the facility, despite the police trying to make us protest far away,” one protester told Bikyamasr.com via telephone. Over 1,000 demonstrators took to the streets with funeral banners and signs demanding the government revoke a decision earlier this week to allow Australia's Lynas' rare-earths mine to go forward. The Occupy Balok-Gebeng event started with the group's chairman Wong Tack delivering a fiery speech before a crowd of hundreds. “Today is the beginning. Today, we galvanise our forces from all across the nation. We occupy Balok and then the whole nation," he said at the launch of the event early Saturday in Kuantan. Activists from the Ban Cyanide-Gold Mining in Bukit Koman movement and the Perak Anti-Radioactive Action Committee have joined the 24-hour rally that will continue into Sunday. The crowd placed hundreds of wreaths, funeral banners and dozens of mock coffins in front of a giant banner depicting the Lynas rare earth refinery. Wong challenged the authorities to issue the full operating licence immediately if it was so sure the project was safe. This was the fourth anti-Lynas rally organised by Himpunan Hijau in less than a year. The rally will culminate with the group gathering in front of the Lynas plant in Gebeng Sunday. Pahang police chief DCP Datuk Sharifuddin Ab Ghani said the rally was held in a private area and the protesters did not disturb anyone. However, he said the protesters were not allowed to gather in Gebeng Sunday, pointing out: “They know the law and we have tried to advise them." Last week, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed issued a statement that effectively shuts out further dissent from the miner's detractors, who have continued to highlight fears of radioactive pollution from the RM2.5 billion plant. The minister acknowledged that public fear has not been allayed but reasoned that the government had already subjected the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) to an “unprecedented series of evaluations" by experts. “I [would] also like to point out that it is the government's position that in cases where all conditions imposed by regulatory agencies have been complied with, an applicant should be allowed to carry on with the implementation of its project," he said, referring to Lynas' application for a manufacturing license to kick off operations at its refinery in Gebeng, Kuantan. Opponents of the plant said they would continue to pressure the government to remove the plant from the country's land. The committee recommended granting Lynas an operating license to begin processing rare earths imported from Australia at the plant in eastern Malaysia. The facility was awarded a license in February but the government froze that following protests by thousands of people, saying the panel would review the decision. “The committee found that up to now all the safety, health and environmental aspects in connection with the project... have been met," the panel said in a 74-page report. The panel was widely expected to rule in favor of the plant. The opposition has largely condemned the ruling and refused to join the panel, which they say will be detrimental to the country as a whole. Rare earths are mineral elements used in the manufacture of high-tech gadgets ranging from iPods to missiles, and China's control of about 95 percent of world supply has raised concerns. Environmental concerns have been the main protest from environmentalists, residents and politicians in the country. They argue that the radioactive waste that will be produced will create an unsustainable environment in the area. “It needs to be closed because this is going to cause problems to our childrens' health and it is not Malaysian," one resident in Kuantan told Bikyamasr.com last week. But the panel said radiation levels were “low and safe" but would need to be monitored, along with air and water quality and public health. A Malaysian court in April dismissed a legal application by Pahang residents to halt work at the plant, which was originally schedule to start operations late last year. Lynas has insisted the facility is safe and any waste will be stored and disposed of securely.
