House Panel Demands Halt To Mae Wong Dam Project

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MAE WONG DAM

House panel demands halt to project

PONGPHON SARNSAMAK

THE NATION

Data shows Cabinet okayed budget before EHIA report was completed

BANGKOK: -- The House committee on land, environment and natural resources has demanded a halt to the construction of Mae Wong Dam, which will be located inside Nakhon Sawan province's national park.

Yesterday, the panel called on relevant agencies to immediately provide details about the project. The agencies in question were the Royal Irrigation Department (RID), National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department and the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP).

After hearing from the agencies, panel chairman Naris Khamnurak said the committee had learned that the RID, which had proposed the Mae Wong Dam project to the Cabinet, had yet to finish the environmental and health impact assessment (EHIA) report. The assessment is mandatory for owners of projects categorised as harmful to the environment under the Constitution's Article 67 (2).

According to the Constitution, an EHIA on a potentially harmful project must be submitted to ONEP and the Independent Commission on Environment and Health for additional recommendations before the report is sent to other agencies for a final approval.

Even thought the EHIA on the project has not been completed, the Cabinet approved a more than Bt13-billion budget on April 10 for the Mae Wong Dam, which would be located inside the Mae Wong National Park, which straddles Nakhon Sawan and Kamphaeng Phet provinces.

The panel has also asked the Cabinet to seek another alternative to solving the flood and drought problems in the North and Central regions. The committee is also calling on the RID to find ways of avoiding potential threats to the flora and fauna of the Mae Wong National Park and other forested areas nearby.

The Mae Wong Dam is expected to retain 258 million cubic metres of water and help irrigate more than 291,900-rai of arable land in Nakhon Sawan, Khampaeng Phet and Uthai Thani.

Democrat MP Khunying Kallaya Sophonpanich, a member of the committee, asked RID deputy chief Somchai Kiatworrachai why his department was in so much of a rush to push the project through.

Somchai said the dam was included in the government's Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management (SCWRM)'s plans to avoid floods after last year's crisis. Besides, he said, the project should resolve the problem because it would block some floodwater from flowing into the Central region.

The Mae Wong Dam project was first proposed by the RID in 1984 and the Japan International Cooperation Agency supported the department's plan to study irrigation development in the Sakae Krang watershed - a tributary of the Chao Phraya River.

According to ONEP, RID had been submitting its environmental impact assessment (EIA) report to a panel of environment experts and the National Environmental Board since 1994. However, both these panels rejected the report several times due to incomplete information on the environmental impact the project would have.

Piyanant Sophanakhanaporn, chief of ONEP’s Environmental Impact Evaluation Bureau, confirmed that the two panels had asked the RID to further study the impact the dam would have on Mae Wong National Park.

The bodies have also asked the department to find another alternative to managing water in Sakae Krang watershed to ease conflicts among people in local areas.

Somchai said RID was conducting an EHIA and should have it ready by July. On May 21, RID will hold a public hearing to collect opinions from people living in Nakhon Sawan province's Lat Yao district and include it in the report that will be submitted to the Independent Commission on Environment.

Meanwhile, Stop Global Warming Association's chairman Srisuwan Janya said his agency was collecting signatures from those opposed to the construction of the dam and would file a lawsuit with the Central Administrative Court.

-- The Nation 2012-05-04

[Bakseedaa]

Dam or be Damned...............!