The crowd at MPK4 Field today, a really big crowd. Some said 3,000 but some claimed that there were 15,000 supporters of Himpunan Hijau 2.0 to protest against the setting up of a Lynas Rare Earth Processing Plant near Kuantan.
A nuclear scientist, Dr. Che Rosli Che Mat said, "The plant is safe. The project should proceed as long as the company
adhered to strict safety standards and regulations to ensure that the health and safety of the residents were protected."
Click "
Lynas plant is safe" for Dr. Rosli's comments.
I fully agreed with Dr. Che Rosli. The factory can be very safe with today's technology but on paper is one thing, actual implementation and operation is another thing. I think that is why Lynas is prepared to transport the material 4,000km to Malaysia for treatment instead of treating it next to its Mount Weld mine in Australia.
For a small plant at Mount Weld, Australian Government has imposed a 30km buffer zone but the Lynas Plant at Gebeng has two big towns and many fishing villages located within the 30km radius.
By nature, I never trust businessman when money is concerned and I always have doubt on the Malaysian authority's professionalism in monitoring and enforcement especially when it involved the rich and powerful.
Even at this construction stage, there were 'damped floor and cracked concrete wall' and 'withdrawal of AkzoNobel (international contractor) from the project' being reported by
New York Times. On this issue AELB considers the plant is safe as long as there is Engineer's certification. If anything goes wrong, AELB will hold the Engineer responsible. Just wonder who is that 'Engineer'.
Safety comes with high cost if all the solid, liquid and gaseous waste from the plant were to be fully treated in accordance with international safety and health standard. If full compliance were to run into hundreds of million $ ultimately. I don't trust the businessman and honestly, I have no confidence in the Government's enforcement units in whatever they are doing.
And remember Murphy's Law - 'Anything that can go wrong will go wrong'. The price to pay is 'what is the worst that can happen? worth it or not?
At today's rally, some has called for
Trying to force the Australian Government to give a helping hand?
What does the Chart tell?
From the Lynas stock chart, the stock price moved in 5 waves from around A$0.50 in January 2010 to April 2011's peak of A$2.60. From April 2011 to October 2011 it moved down in 5 waves. As 5 down-waves can not be the end of a corrective wave, it has to be wave
A of a corrective wave. The subsequent 3-waves rebound with a climax surge on 2nd February, when a Temporary Operating Licence (TOL) was approved, marked the end of wave
B. The current down trend can be the starting of wave
C. It appeared to me that the stock price is heading for A$0.50 for a 100% retracement. Does it means the Malaysian Government is going to cancel the TOL for certain reasons???
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