SEREMBAN, May 7 — The Negeri Sembilan government does not have any specific plans to set up a factory to process non-radioactive rare earth elements (NR-REE) in the state.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun, however, said the state government has no objection to foreign companies or investors interested in setting up such a factory in the state.
“It will indirectly help develop the NR-REE industry at the intermediate level
“The production of NR-REE in Malaysia is currently concentrated at the upstream level and exported to China in raw form (RE Carbonate) and there the separation process for every metal contained in it will be carried out to produce downstream products like magnets,” he said.
He said this in a written reply during the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly to an oral question by Kamarol Ridzuan Mohd Zain (PN-Paroi), who wanted to know if the state government intended to set up a factory to process REE.
Aminuddin (PH-Sikamat), who is also the state Finance, Land and Natural Resources Action Committee chairman, said at present, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability has imposed a moratorium on the export of NR-REE as an initiative to develop the industry in the middle level.
He said the implementation of the moratorium came into force as of January 1 and would be evaluated every six months.
Meanwhile, he said the Works Ministry had approved the state government’s application for a multi-level highway construction project from the Senawang Toll Plaza to the Kajang-Seremban Expressway exit near Taman Tasik Jaya here.
“The ministry is currently at the stage where it is considering the bid price for the cost of implementing the project,” he said when replying to a question from P. Gunasekaren (PH-Seremban Jaya), who asked about the latest development regarding the project. — Bernama
