New study on dam in Mae Wong National Park
A tactical maneuver or a genuine concern for the environment? The government has decided to commission a new study into the controversial Mae Wong dam in the national park of the same name (Nakhon Sawan). She hopes to contain the increasing anti-dam protests. The surprising decision follows the 388-kilometer protest walk, which ended in Bangkok on Sunday. Thousands then greeted the walkers.
Meanwhile, the proponents of the dam are also starting to stir. According to the newspaper, 10.000 people gathered at the district office of Lat Yao (Nakhon Sawan) yesterday to plead for the dam. They threaten to intensify their protest if the project does not go ahead.
But that is not the case yet. ITD Power China Joint Venture, a company that will carry out five works under the 350 billion baht water management program, has been awarded the contract to design and build the dam, said Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, chairman of the committee responsible for program. In the new study, the dam's function changes from irrigation to flood prevention only, with the added benefit of construction costs being lower than the budgeted 13 billion baht.
It seems as if Plodprasop, a staunch supporter of construction, has been blown back by Prime Minister Yingluck. The prime minister has ordered him to talk to the opponents. Yesterday she said the government is ready to listen to the concerns of the population. 'Not only do we want to build the dam, but environmental concerns must also be given attention.'
The organizer of the hike, Sasin Chalermlarp, secretary general of the Seub Nakasathien foundation, says he is not against a dam as such, but a dam in the national park. When that location is held, new actions will come again. The foundation is named after Seub Nakasathien, head of a game reserve, who killed himself out of frustration at all the opposition. Thanks to his efforts, two game reserves later achieved UNESCO World Heritage status.
One possibility suggested by Santi Boonkrakub, secretary general of Onep, is to shift the location to Khao Chon Kan outside the park. That location can hold more water. But a large number of people have to give way, who, according to him, have illegally taken possession of land.
Onep is the Office of the Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning. This office is tasked with assessing environmental impact assessments (EIA). It has rejected the EIA commissioned by the Royal Irrigation Department by a consultancy firm and asked for more details. It is not clear to me whether the new study in question is being carried out by the same experts. The Seub Nakasathien foundation previously had strong objections to the EIA that had been made because it paid insufficient attention to the ecological consequences of the construction of the dam.
(Source: Bangkok Post, Sept. 26, 2013)