The controversial Lynas rare earth plant in Malaysia

The controversial Lynas rare earth plant in Malaysia

An Australian company named Lyna Corporation has built the largest plant for the extraction of rare earth metal. The plant is placed in the country of Malaysia near the city of Kuantan in Gebeng, Malaysia (Lynas Corporation, 2011). The project became controversial due to the issues and concerns of Malaysian people regarding the operation of this plant in the country. The people of Malaysia are concerned about the fear of environmental conditions that are likely to be deteriorated by the construction of this plant in Malaysia. It could produce negative effects on the health of the Malaysian people. It would also create bad impact on the economic conditions of the country. The issue prevails in the country due to the support of government to the Lyna Corporation. The government is of the view that this plant is not harmful to the public and their health. They think that the plant is not a threat to the health of the public and the environmental conditions (Lynas Corporation, 2011).

The waste generated by the extraction of rare earth plant will be disposed of properly without contaminating the environmental conditions of the country. The government of Malaysia thinks that the extraction plant of Lyna Corporation will provide added economic benefits to the country. However, the people of Malaysia are well aware of the fact that the plant will produce the waste product in a huge amount that is a big threat to the environment and society and the waste cannot be disposed of properly. The key threat to the public and environment is due to the presence of uranium and thorium in the waste product of the extracted rare earth elements by Lyna Corporation (Polprasert & Liyanage, 1996).

The solutions announced by the Lyna corporation for the disposal of waste product of rare earth metal extraction does not seem responsible towards to the health of the public and the environmental conditions of the country. The assertion given by the government of Malaysia regarding the economic benefits that would be obtained by the extraction plant of rare earth metal is denied by the public. It is backed by the fact that the twelve year holiday tax that is granted by the authorities in Malaysia seems to be doubtful for the public. The extraction plant would create few jobs to the people of Malaysia. It would also create a negative impact on the already existing property values that are placed in the region of Kuantan in Malaysia. The planned estimation for the project is the capacity of 22,000 tons annually (Polprasert & Liyanage, 1996).

The concern of people has increased due to the presence of a previous extraction plant in another part of Malaysia that was shut down because of the negative effect on the health of people of Malaysia. The extraction of rare earth metals in the Bukit Merah part of Malaysia impacted the health of the workers of the ...