Analysis of public acceptance of the Lynas Advance Material Plant (LAMP) project: responses from Gebeng and Johor communities

Abstract

This paper provided an analysis of the community response to the Lynas Advance Material Plant (LAMP) Project and the factors underlying their acceptance. A survey using a structured questionnaire, was conducted in 2013 on two communities, Gebeng and Johor. Participants who lived in Gebeng and Johor and at least 18 years old were included into our study. The mean of risk acceptance in each categorized group of respondents was tested with ANOVA and the principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify latent factors. Our investigation found that the predictors of risk acceptance by the Gebeng residents revealed three latent factors (Perception + Effect + Trust, Benefits, and No confidence in government + familiar) (R2= 0.429). For the Gebeng community, males were more acceptable of the LAMP than female. For the Johor community, the Malays were more acceptable compared to other races. The public acceptance about Lynas Advance Material Plant (LAMP) presented wide range of responses and the pattern of risk structure differed slightly for both communities. There was the third group (not sure) for Johor community that made up of one third of the respondents, indicating large portion were unable to make their decision.