Thai Govt Urged To Review Bt350-Bn Water Projects

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Govt urged to review Bt350-bn water projects
Chularat Saengpassa,
Tanpisit Lerdbamrungchai
The Nation



Academics warn of clashes if public opinion about impacts not sought

BANGKOK: -- Academics called on the government yesterday to review its Bt350-billion water-management mega-projects, saying they would cause conflicts. They also urged the government to reveal details to the public, especially data related to risky areas, as well as use a multiparty water-management mechanism with people's and stakeholders' participation.

Villagers from river basins in the North and Northeast, who gathered outside the South Korean Embassy yesterday to call on Korea Water Resources Corp (K-Water) to suspend its bidding, also attended the seminar held at Bitec Bang Na.

At the forum, Chulalongkorn University lecturer Chaiyuth Suksri said the public should be allowed to participate and the government needed to reveal which areas would be affected and to what degree, and what it plans to do to tackle risks and provide appropriate compensation.

Surichai Wankaew, director of the CU Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, said responsibilities for the projects were not clearly divided and warned that it could end up being a waste of money. He also said the information should be made public.

The seminar also presented environmental problems in upstream areas in Nakhon Sawan and Uthai Thani and revealed that management of dam water was not in line with the farming activities in the river basins and, hence, water-diversion lines posed greater risks to farms.

As for midstream areas in Sing Buri, Suphan Buri, Ayutthaya and Lop Buri, the Chao Phraya flood barrier would make flooding more severe and lengthen the flooding period, as the Royal Irrigation Department's network of sluice gates were meant for farming water and were not appropriate for flood drainage. Downstream areas in Nakhon Pathom, Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram faced the risk of severe floods due to flood barriers and elevated roads, which could damage farms and have an adverse impact on the fishing industry.

Earlier, some 20 demonstrators gathered outside the South Korean Embassy to submit a request addressed to the South Korean government and K-Water, which is one of the six contenders for the mega-projects, which will be divided into nine modules.

The group claimed that the Water and Flood Management Commission (WFMC) had not done any environmental impact assessment (EIA) or sought local people's opinions, and feared that the projects might affect their livelihoods.

Hannarong Yaowalers, who chairs the Foundation for Integrated Water Management, said the mega-project process violated the law, as an EIA was required before a contractor can be hired. He said the group would file a similar petition at the Chinese Embassy because Chinese firms were also joining the bidding. The group has also filed a complaint with the Administrative Court, which is waiting for the bidding results to be announced on June 11 before it takes up the complaint, he added.

Somming Meunrong, head of the anti-dam group in Phrae's Sa-eiab subdistrict, said the mega-projects violated the Constitution, lacked clarity about responsible parties and lacked public participation. He said some modules were not cost-effective or even necessary, adding that if K-Water did not back down, they would sue the company and launch campaigns against it.

Meanwhile, Democrat MP Atthawit Suwanpakdee warned that extending the date for announcing bidding results from June 4 to June 11 would open the door for lobbying.


-- The Nation 2013-06-01