NEB okays gas pipeline from Burma

[brelief@xxxxxxx]

NEB okays gas pipeline from Burma 

Construction may start today 

BY WALAKKAMON EAMWIWATKIT, PENNAPA HONGTHONG 

THE Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) could start construction of the
controversial gas pipeline from the Thai-Burmese border as soon as today,
after the National Environment Board (NEB) gave the green light by approving
its environmental impact assessment yesterday amid criticism from
environmental and human rights groups. 

Somphongse Tantisuvanichkul, the PTT Gas Pipeline Project director, said
that he will contact the project contractor today to begin construction in
the heart of the Kanchanaburi forest. 

''We have been ready. The PTT signed a contract with a German company to
build the project two weeks ago. We are confident the project's
environmental impact assessment (EIA) will be approved. But I told the
contractor not to start the work before March 24 as we would like to wait
for official approval from the NEB," he said. 

The NEB approved the project's environmental studies on the grounds that the
gas pipeline is a bilateral deal between the Thai and Burmese governments. A
delay of the transfer of natural gas from Burma's Yadana field to Thailand
beyond June next year would cause the PTT to be fined Bt100 million per day
by the Yadana Gas Field development consortium. 

''Moreover, the project is in the same package with the gas power plant
project in Ratchaburi, which was recently approved by the Cabinet.
Therefore, we have to give it the green light," explained Dhira
Phanthumvanich, a board member who is also president of the Thailand
Environment Institute. 

However, residents of Kanchanaburi condemned the NEB for approving the
project without addressing their concerns. Pinan Chotirosserani, president
of Kanchanaburi's Women's Conservation Club, said that residents are worried
about the safety of the project as the pipeline will lay on a fault line. 

''We do not trust the PTT. It has never given us full information about the
project. For example, it never mentioned anything about the fault line until
we found out about it by ourselves. Moreover, the pipeline might be
sabotaged by ethnic rebel groups," she said. 

Pinan led a group of Kanchanaburi residents to submit a letter to Prime
Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh yesterday before he chaired the NEB meeting.
In the letter, most residents in the province are yet unaware of the project
and its possible impact. 

Suraphol Duangkhae, deputy secretary-general of the Wildlife Fund of
Thailand, said he was surprised that the NEB approved the project in such a
hurry. He said that information on the project's possible effects on the
forest and key wildlife species have not yet been assessed from the PTT's
environmental studies. 

He said that in principle the EIA must be completed before construction so
that the public can decide if the project is environmentally sound. The PTT
should not have been allowed to implement the study while constructing the
pipeline at the same time. 

''We may have to review the whole environmental law of this country. The
approval from the NEB today means the present law is flawed," he said. 

The Office of Environmental Policy and Planning (OEPP) rejected the
project's EIA twice during the past few months as it found incomplete
information on the project's impact on elephants, great hornbills, the
Kitti's hog-nosed bat and royal crab, which are key species found in the
forest in the area. 

Suraphol said that the PTT should have spent another year studying the life
cycles of various species to determine the possible impact. But the agency
did nothing more than state in the EIA that it plans to conduct the study
while construction is proceeding. 

Somboon Phantuwaditorn, of the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma,
said the green light for construction means that the Thai government
supports human rights violations in Burma. He said that thousands of Karen
families in Burma were evicted by the Burmese military to make way for the
project. 

OEPP secretary-general, Saksit Tridech, who served as the NEB secretary in
the meeting yesterday, said that a sub-committee was set up to monitor
seismic safety, the construction process and to avoid any impact on the
forest and endangered species. 

He said the sub-committee will be chaired by the governor of Kanchanaburi,
the governor of Ratchaburi, the president of the Thailand Environment
Institute, the secretary-general of the Wildlife Fund of Thailand and
representatives of local non-governmental organisations in Kanchanaburi. 

''The sub-committee will examine the project's implementation in every stage
and push the project implementers to conduct environmental impact relief
measures which were planned in the EIA," Saksit said. 

He added that the sub-committee was assigned to report to the NEB every
three weeks. 

''And to prevent sabotage during construction which the environmental groups
are worried about, patrol officers from the military and police will be
asked to regularly examine the area," he said. 

In addition, he said that the Royal Forestry Department proposed setting up
another new forestry protection unit to look after both natural resources
and safety issues. The Petroleum Authority of Thailand also has its own
field rangers, Saksit said. 
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