Himpunan Hijau 2.0 chairman Wong Tack stressed that it is their right to use the Padang MPK 1 on Jalan Mahkota, Kuantan where the rally is to be held.
Earlier, Wong told reporters here at the PAS headquarters that the Kuantan Municipal Council (MPK) has responded to their application to use the field by asking for a “letter of support” from the police.
“The padang (field) belongs to the people, belongs to the rakyat, (and is) paid (for) by tax money of the rakyat.
“We only mandate, allow the MPK to manage. How could they not carry out their service to the rakyat diligently. Why they defy the instruction from the top leadership?” he said today.
According to Wong, organisers had officially notified the police on February 15 of their intention to hold the rally.
The police have asked to meet with the organisers at 3pm today.
He further stressed that both Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob have agreed to allow the Himpunan Hijau peaceful assembly on Sunday.
“But unfortunately, after a week, our application to use the field in Kuantan has been rejected,” he said.
More than 20,000 people are expected to turn up at the rally on February 26 to protest against the construction of the controversial Lynas rare earths plant.
The organisers are from the same group, Green Solidarity, which held a gathering in Taman Gelora, Kuantan on October 9 last year.
Adnan had reportedly “welcomed” the upcoming rally, saying that it would boost income of local traders and hotel operators.
Last week, 10 Pahang residents filed a suit against the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) and two others, alleging that the radiation watchdog issued Lynas a temporary operating licence (TOL) for its RM2.5 billion Gebeng plant in return for a cut of the firm’s top line income.
The suit, filed at the High Court here on Friday, seeks a court order cancelling AELB’s award of the TOL on January 30.
Separately last week, Lynas said it would fire up its refinery by the second quarter of this year.
The Sydney-based miner is looking to break China’s 90 per cent chokehold on the supply of rare earth metals needed to manufacture high-tech products such as smartphones, energy-efficient light bulbs and hybrid cars.
Lynas expects to generate some RM8 billion annually from its operations here.
Already deeply concerned over the potential environmental impact of the plant, anti-Lynas groups have grown in force over the past year since news of a nuclear power plant crisis in earthquake- and tsunami-hit Fukushima prefecture in Japan made global headlines
