The word on the ground in Kuantan is that YB Azan bin Ismail, the current Member of Parliament for the Bandar Indera Mahkota constituency in Pahang, representing the People's Justice Party (PKR) in the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition, no longer commands the support of his constituents as he has not made a stand to oppose the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Gebeng, which lies within his constituency. In fact, he has been doggedly silent on the issue.
YB Azan was elected to Parliament in the 2008 general election, defeating Salamon Ali Rizal Abdul Rahman of the governing Barisan Nasional coalition by 1,027 votes. He was a member of the PKR's leadership in Pahang before resigning in 2010, citing dissatisfaction with PKR's management.
In contrast, working hard on the ground to replace YB Azan in Indera Mahkota is PKR's Lee Chean Chung. Born and raised in Kuantan, Pahang, local boy Lee Chean Chung is currently the Research Officer for Kajian Politik untuk Perubahan (KPRU). Fluent in Malay, English and several Chinese dialects, Lee Chean Chung has been very busy building grassroots support in the Bandar Indera Mahkota constituency, not least by campaigning hard for the anti-Lynas campaign.
The Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) relies on the Kuantan Port, a key feature of the East Coast Economic Region (ECER), to import Rare Earth Oxide (REO) concentrate from Mount Weld, located 35 kilometres south of Laverton, Western Australia.
Copyright 2003-2011 Azlan Adnan. This blog post is sponsored by The Green Party of Malaysia
No comments:
Post a Comment