Open letter to the CEO, Lynas Australia

Dear Mr Nick Curtis,

I am an ordinary citizen of Malaysia. I was disappointed and infuriated today when I read your comments in a Reuters article  on Jan 31.

While I can understand that it is your job as CEO to increase the bottom line of your company, please do not pretend to have the best interest of Malaysians.

I take issue at your blanket statement that changing of governments and political direction will affect the stability of foreign direct investment.

Your feigned concern and inference that the closure of your plant will have a heavy impact on the nation's economic and financial health is most self-serving.

The people of Malaysia will elect a government that will safeguard their interests, including their health and wellbeing.

I, and many others are of the opinion that the Lynas plant, while good in terms of FDI dollars, will have a significant negative impact on our health and environment.

I have not heard a credible explanation on why else the plant is not built in Australia, where there are vast areas of uninhabited land.

You have done little to assuage our fears that radiation contamination will not recur as it did in Bukit Merah .

The people there have suffered greatly with congenital birth defects, leukaemia and septicaemia as a result of radiation exposure from a rare earth refinery.

We have not heard much of this tragedy in the local mainstream media, as our corrupt government has covered it up.

Surely this is why you have chosen Malaysia as your dumping ground - to collude with this nation's corrupt leaders who are so easily swayed by the smell of money.

Please sir, I urge you to respect the people's voice. Pretending to care about Malaysians, warning us about impending doom should your plant be closed does not do you any favours.

Your comments, coupled with your continued push to open the plant despite new safety concerns from key contractors   have done more to convince me that your prime motivation for being in Malaysia is to increase profits for Lynas, at the expense of the people here.

It is not too late to do the right thing by the people. I implore you to halt your operations and first convince us.

As a start, please fully disclose your plans on how the radioactive waste will be disposed of, plans for and level of regulation by an independent body, as well as your accountability to the people of Malaysia.

Our leaders have failed us by steamrolling through the public consultation process and gambling with our lives in spite of public feedback and outcry.

I am appealing to your sensibility first and to Lynas' corporate social responsibility to stop and do the right thing by the Malaysian people.