In today’s edition of Evening 5 — Putrajaya allows Lynas to continue with its cracking and leaching activities under stringent conditions. Meanwhile, Putrajaya tells the Court of Appeal that it’s in the midst of negotiating a settlement with Semantan Estate.
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00:00 [Music]
00:04 Butrajaya has given a conditional green light for Linus Malaysia to continue with its cracking
00:10 and leaching or CNL activities. Earlier this year, the government said the Australian rare
00:15 earths miner would have to stop carrying out CNL activities at its plant in Gembeng,
00:20 despite possessing the license to operate here until March 2026. Science, technology and
00:26 innovation minister Chang Lee Kang said today that license has been updated based on the findings of
00:32 the preliminary research by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board. He said Linus is now allowed
00:38 to import naturally occurring radioactive materials and continue with its CNL activities
00:44 on condition it must extract the radioactive content in the waste produced by its plant
00:50 and ensure the residue is below one becquerel per gram. He noted that this radioactive material,
00:56 thorium, could be sold as a commodity to be used in nuclear energy plants. Another condition of
01:02 the updated license requires Linus to also commit one percent of its gross revenue to research and
01:08 development. Chang said his ministry is confident that this development will ensure the interest of
01:13 the rakyat is protected while enabling Malaysia to attract billions of ringgit worth of investment
01:19 in the rare earth industry to support the high-tech material manufacturing industry.
01:25 [Music]
01:30 The federal government told the Court of Appeal today that it was in the midst of negotiating
01:35 a settlement with Semantan Estate as it seeks to end a seven-decade dispute over 263.3 acres of land
01:43 along Jalan Duta Kuala Lumpur that is currently occupied by public properties.
01:48 Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Wul Hasan told The Bench today that Putrajaya needs a three-month
01:53 adjournment. Shamsul apologised for making the request at the 11th hour, citing a letter received
02:00 just yesterday from Semantan Estate which wanted to facilitate negotiations with the state. The
02:06 court was initially not inclined to agree to the request as there was neither anything concrete
02:12 nor a plan pointing towards the settlement and the case had gone on for too long. The Bench had
02:17 been prepared to hear the case this afternoon. Eventually it granted the adjournment and fixed
02:23 February 15th next year as the hearing of the appeal should the parties fail to reach a settlement.
02:29 The Penang Development Corp PDC will be required to fully refund the deposit paid by UMEC land
02:40 amounting to RM64.6 million. After the controversial joint development agreement
02:46 to co-develop the RM3.5 billion Batu Kawan Industrial Park II was axed.
02:51 In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Sunway confirmed that UMEC land, its 70% owned subsidiary,
02:58 has received the notice of termination. PDC terminated the deal with UMEC land last week.
03:04 According to a statement posted on Penang CM Chow Kwon Yew's Facebook page,
03:08 PDC's board of directors said, "The change in majority shareholders of UMEC land's equity
03:14 structure, which was done without informing PDC and without its approval, is a serious issue
03:20 and cannot be accepted by the Board of PDC." This was in reference to the fact that Sunway had
03:25 emerged as a majority shareholder of UMEC land only two days prior to the announcement of the
03:31 agreement. The Board of PDC maintained, however, that the selection process of UMEC land was
03:37 transparent and in line with its policy. Sunway shares closed 1.6% higher at RM1.88 cent apiece
03:44 with a marked capitalization of RM9.41 billion.
03:49 Duofarma Biotech secured another six-month contract extension to supply pharmaceutical
03:59 and non-pharmaceutical products to state hospitals and clinics under the government's
04:03 approved product purchase list or APPL. Its subsidiary, Duofarma Malaysia, received the
04:09 letter of extension from Pharma Niaga's subsidiary, Pharma Niaga Logistics. Duofarma said the contract,
04:16 which expired in June, was extended from July 1 to December 31, 2023. The contract was awarded
04:23 in 2017 by Pharma Niaga and initially covered a three-year period from December 1, 2017,
04:30 to November 30, 2019, before it was extended three times until June 30, 2023. It contributes about
04:38 20% of Duofarma's annual revenue. In the second quarter of FY23, the group's net profit fell by
04:45 23% to RM12.54 million as revenue shrank by 7.8% to RM167.52 million. At the close,
04:55 Duofarma's share price was up 0.8% to RM1.21, valuing the group at RM1.16 billion.
05:03 The stock has declined over 26% since the beginning of the year.
05:12 GIIB Holdings' former executive director, Wong Pin Kiong, and former CEO, Tai Boon Wee,
05:18 have been discharged and acquitted by the High Court of charges related to the furnishing of
05:24 fake documents to the company's auditor over the sale of RM2.95 million worth of machinery that
05:30 allegedly did not exist. Wong was charged with giving fake GIIB debit notes to auditor Grant
05:37 Thornton Malaysia, but the sale never took place, said the prosecution, and money never
05:42 changed hands. Tai was charged with colluding with Wong. Judge Jato Azhar Abdul Hamid said
05:47 he came to the decision after reading the submissions and affidavits. Tai and Wong
05:52 relinquished their roles at GIIB last month. In a filing with Borisa, GIIB said the leadership of
05:59 the company was passed to Tai's sons, Tai Chi Sheng and Tai Chi Yeo, who were elected executive
06:05 directors as part of a succession plan.
06:08 [Music]