When Australian miner Lynas Rare Earth decided to operate in Malaysia, the move was met with strong public opposition and critics often cited the Bukit Merah Asia Rare Earth (ARE) incident four decades ago in Perak.

Although Lynas has insisted its operation complies with regulations and that the radiation is less than that of the decades-old incident, the spectre of Bukit Merah continues to haunt it.

The recently published environmental impact assessment (EIA) report on Lynas’ proposed permanent disposal facility (PDF) project in Gebeng, Pahang, drew a comparison with ARE’s long-term storage facility in Bukit Kledang, which led to radioactive pollution in 1982.

The report pointed out that...