Villagers mount macabre protest against biomass power plant in Sa Kaew province

[webfact]

Villagers mount macabre protest against biomass power plant

By Thanapat Kijjakosol 
The Nation

 

 

SA KAEW: -- To protest against the construction of a sugar factory and 60-megawatt biomass power plant, residents of three villages in Tambon Wang Mai, Wang Somboon district, Sa Kaew province, this week erected protest signs made of cloth used to wrap corpses at their homes and at various sites in their communities.

 

The protest signs read: “We don’t want sugar factory-biomass power plant”, “Factory=Water pollution” and “We raise milk cattle, we don’t want factory”.

 

The protest followed community visits by factory personnel last week meant to push the project forward despite the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning’s rejection of the third environmental impact assessment draft report on August 30.

 

Villagers said they did not want the sugar factory and biomass power plant to be built near their communities and milk cattle cooperatives, because it would affect milk production as well as the cultivation of mangoes for export and off-season longans. 

 

Residents said they had a petition to submit to the King and would file a complaint with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and related agencies about the project.

 

Longan farmer Maneeroj Jongsomjit said villagers put up the protest signs made of cloth used to wrap corpses to signify that if the project goes ahead, it would be the death of the community.

 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30327120

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-09-19

[Kasset Tak]

Lets see... do they grow sugarcane in that tambon?! If they do, then what the hell are they complaining about!!!
If they are growing sugarcane, rice or anything else that needs to be processed then they should also accept that there are factories doing the processing in the area! This is the same as people complaining about traffic in the area because of a factory... that friends and family work and make their living there doesn't matter as the traffic is disturbing their piece! The same where I live, there is a big factory and people are complaining about it... 40 years ago when they founded the factory there were no people living in the area!!!

[Dumbastheycome]

5 hours ago, Kasset Tak said:

Lets see... do they grow sugarcane in that tambon?! If they do, then what the hell are they complaining about!!!
If they are growing sugarcane, rice or anything else that needs to be processed then they should also accept that there are factories doing the processing in the area! This is the same as people complaining about traffic in the area because of a factory... that friends and family work and make their living there doesn't matter as the traffic is disturbing their piece! The same where I live, there is a big factory and people are complaining about it... 40 years ago when they founded the factory there were no people living in the area!!!

So  because  people  are  not  so ignorant as  to not understand  the  environmental impact   that   will  occur as  it  has  in  your  locality that  they  are   wrong? Should  they   just   bow  down  to  the   corporate/cartel domination  ?

So  often  I see   comment  about  apathy  from  the  Thai  population  but  this  is  a  situation where  the  local habitants   are  initiating  protest  on  very   valid concerns.

 

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

visits by factory personnel last week meant to push the project

They're not going to even ask Prayut to invoke Article 44?

[tryasimight]

What is there to complain about......there must be sugar cane being grown or there would not be the need for a sugar mill. 60MW of sustainable renewable power...where is the problem?

 

I should add I've been in the sugar industry for 20 years. A modern mill can be very efficient and non polluting, is practically carbon neutral, and provides employment and technical (think electrical/instrumentation, PLC and computer systems, condition monitoring) training opportunities for many.

It also provides external opportunities for transport, harvesting and a myriad of material and service providers.

It is also a major export commodity adding to the country's balance of trade. When you have 1.2 billion people practically living on your doorstep who WILL want more sugar in the future, you'd have to be crazy not to go for it.

Lets not forget about the production of ethanol as a substitute for imported oil and a lot of research has been done into developing a plastics industry based on sugar.

 

 

[tryasimight]

11 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

So  because  people  are  not  so ignorant as  to not understand  the  environmental impact   that   will  occur as  it  has  in  your  locality that  they  are   wrong? Should  they   just   bow  down  to  the   corporate/cartel domination  ?

So  often  I see   comment  about  apathy  from  the  Thai  population  but  this  is  a  situation where  the  local habitants   are  initiating  protest  on  very   valid concerns.

 

As far as I can see the peoples only concerns are growing mangoes and possible water pollution.

You will usually find sugar and mango production go hand in hand - they both need similar climatic conditions so this concern is based on a fallacy.

Water pollution could be a problem for a poorly managed operation. But not in a well designed and operated factory - in fact effluent can be reduced to zero....yes zero.

Another option is use to use factory water (sugar mills produce a lot of water - cane is over 70% water by weight) is to use it for farm irrigation - quite a common practice - and farmers love it as it allows them to irrigate during the dry season when the cane is still growing at no cost to them.

 

Like most emotive arguments it basically comes down to two things - resistance to change and easily led people by environmental activists (or tossers if you prefer) who do not have the people's interests at heart.

[Srikcir]

4 minutes ago, tryasimight said:

What is there to complain about

Answered.

"The protest followed community visits by factory personnel last week meant to push the project forward despite the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning’s rejection of the third environmental impact assessment draft report on August 30."

What did ONREP see that caused them to reject the EIA? Wouldn't that cause you some concern not knowing why a seemingly beneficial project should fail an EIA?

Complaints are about government arrogance and disregard for public concerns.

[tryasimight]

9 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Answered.

"The protest followed community visits by factory personnel last week meant to push the project forward despite the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning’s rejection of the third environmental impact assessment draft report on August 30."

What did ONREP see that caused them to reject the EIA? Wouldn't that cause you some concern not knowing why a seemingly beneficial project should fail an EIA?

Complaints are about government arrogance and disregard for public concerns.

I have no idea. I have not read the EIA. Have you?

But a rejection is not unusual - it just means the proposal needs more work - and rightly so, nobody wants unnecessary negative environmental impacts, but it is a fact of life that anything we do, anything, affects the environment in one way or another. That includes rice, mango and milk production. 

Sustainable development and the environment can go hand in hand.

[Srikcir]

3 minutes ago, tryasimight said:

Sustainable development and the environment can go hand in hand.

Yes, they can in a society where there are checks & balances against government abuse of power. Not when the government has absolute power and deems itself unaccountable to the public.

[Dumbastheycome]

13 hours ago, tryasimight said:

As far as I can see the peoples only concerns are growing mangoes and possible water pollution.

You will usually find sugar and mango production go hand in hand - they both need similar climatic conditions so this concern is based on a fallacy.

Water pollution could be a problem for a poorly managed operation. But not in a well designed and operated factory - in fact effluent can be reduced to zero....yes zero.

Another option is use to use factory water (sugar mills produce a lot of water - cane is over 70% water by weight) is to use it for farm irrigation - quite a common practice - and farmers love it as it allows them to irrigate during the dry season when the cane is still growing at no cost to them.

 

Like most emotive arguments it basically comes down to two things - resistance to change and easily led people by environmental activists (or tossers if you prefer) who do not have the people's interests at heart.

The   "possibilities "  you  outline  are  quite  correct. But  if  this  processing  plant  is   situationally  convenient   for  taking  advantage  of  cross  border   cheap  product and  actually   not   compliant  with  environmental  controls  re'  waste  water or  anything else as  may have  been  detrimentally evidenced   by  other owned   processing   units  in  other  locations then  it   could   come  down  to  the  often ignored factor  over  and  above  the   two things   you advocate.

Not  everybody  is simply  resistant  to  change, easily  led  by  environmentalists  or  greedy   corporates , (tossers  aside!)

People   who willingly bow  down to  big  money  never have  any !