The right decision on Lynas

First and foremost, I'm glad for the about 1,000 Malaysians working at the Lynas' rare earths plant in Gebeng near Kuantan.

Yes, their prayers have been answered.

This is the story by Reuters;

Malaysia to let Lynas to continue running its rare earths plant

excerpts;

“We will allow Lynas to carry on because otherwise we are going to lose a very big investment from Australia,” Mahathir told reporters at a news conference in Tokyo. 

But I think this also got something to do with it,

excerpts;

Lynas’ status as a non-Chinese producer came into sharper focus this week after major Chinese newspapers, including the official People’s Daily, reported Beijing was ready to use rare earths to strike back in its trade war with the United States.

China supplied 80 per cent of the rare earths imported by the United States from 2014 to 2017, when it accounted for 81 per cent of the world’s rare earth production, data from the U.S. Geological Survey showed.

You all can read more on that at these links;

China ready to hit back at 

US with rare earths

China set to control rare earth 

supply for years due to 

processing dominance

Somehow I believe that Dr Mahathir was glad to make that decision.

He knows that those anti-Lynas politicians such as Fuziah Salleh and Wong Tuck are actually so full of shit and just using the issue to gain political mileage. 

Yup, the whole anti-Lynas movement was actually just a load of crap.

If you believed in it back then, then I'm sorry for you.

This is what Dr Mahathir wrote in his blog about Lynas on May 20 2012,

LYNAS ← Chedet

1. I was the first to write in my blog about rare earth, about how difficult it was to rid ourselves from activated rare earth when it was no longer needed.

2. Rare earth can be used for many things and in many ways. The rare earth represented by tin tailing, mostly ilmenite, when activated can be used in colour television. Today colour television uses plasma or LED.

3. This posed a problem of getting rid of the activated rare earth left in Malaysia. Finally it was agreed between Mitsubishi Electric and Malaysia that a site in Perak of almost a square kilometre be reserved for burying under concrete the activated “amang”.

4. Although visitors were banned and no human habitation was allowed at the site, I am told that now there is no more danger of radiation and human dwellings have been built there.

5. The Lynas project is not about activating the rare earth to make it radioactive. It is about extraction of the element to be used in making lithium ion batteries and magnets.

6. Lithium ion batteries are extensively used to power electronic products including mobile phones.

7. We carry in our pockets and use mobile phones all the time, putting them against our ears to hear and speak over the air waves. Obviously they are not harmful. This lithium ion battery does not emit harmful radiation.

8. As I understand it, the Lynas plant in Pahang does not involve activating any of the rare earth components to make them radioactive. The process cannot be harmful. As for the waste, it does not give off harmful radiation either. The waste is just ordinary earth which is normally mixed with the small amounts of rare earth. The necessity to export the waste does not arise.

9. Malaysia is endowed with significant quantities of rare earth. In its natural state it is harmless. Tin tailings or “amang” is probably more likely to give off radio waves than rare earth. The mining and extraction of rare earth can bring much wealth to Malaysia. In fact Malaysia should be producing lithium ion batteries for use in electric and hybrid cars. Today these batteries are being produced in Germany and Britain, using rare earth from China and elsewhere.

10. Lithium ion batteries will be much in demand in the future. They are usually rechargeable and can last for many years.

11. It would be a great loss to Malaysia if misguided people prevent us from extracting and using the high clean electrical capacities of rare earth. Just as the lithium ion batteries in the cellular phones is not harmful even when we carry them everywhere in our pockets and put them to our ears, the mining and extracting of rare earth from Malaysian earth will not harm us in any way.

Well, yesterday's announcement by Dr Mahathir was indeed satisying because I have been writing quite a bit about Lynas myself.

These are some of my previous posts on the issue;

• Lynas' worries - the risk of not being factual and objective

• Shutting down Lynas may tilt the balance of global power

All important first round goes to Lynas people  

Going after Lynas - the danger of being overzealous

• About Lynas public hearing and self-proclaimed environmentalists

• Lynas - it's turning into a McGregor-Khabib fight

• Lynas - it's all based on facts and evidence

• The sneaky way they are getting at Lynas

• Fuziah's latest Lynas drama

• Why Yeo Bee Yin and gang want to close down Lynas

About Yeo Bee Yin's condescending letter 

• Lynas can't be bothered with Pakatan's bullshit anymore

• 
  
• A correction that Annie is glad to make

Quite a few, aren't they?

Really glad that one settled.

Well, I'm alone in the house now. Not working today.

Maybe I'll go out later and celebrate a bit during buka puasa time.

For now, I just want to relax and enjoy the solitude.

Cheers.