Pipeline firm in plea to Queen (r)

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

June 4, 1997

BANGKOK POST

YADANA PROJECT 

Pipeline firm in plea to Queen 

Builder says project should follow roads

Yuwadee Tunyasiri, Suebpong Unarat and
Veera Prateepchaikul


The company building the Yadana gas pipeline has petitioned Her Majesty the 
Queen to have the project re-routed, a source said yesterday.

Prasit Supsakorn, chairman of the Tasco Mannesmann joint venture, wrote to the 
Bureau of the Royal Household on March 24, suggesting an alternative route 
along highways 3272 and 323i.

In his letter, Mr Prasit said the slightly longer route would spare the 
environment in Kanchanaburi and avoid conflict with conservationists. He 
maintained the detour route would be worthy.

The petition prompted the bureau to ask the prime minister to consider the 
project carefully.

In the petition, Mr Prasit pointed out the existing route would cut a 50km 
strip 21m wide through national forest reserves, destroying the environment.

He also said protests against the project by environment-conscious people 
might disrupt construction to the point the project would not be completed in 
time as specified in the contract with Burma.

The source said it was strange the chairman of the company contracted by the 
Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) was unaware of the pipeline route and 
its environmental impact in the first place.

The source suspected Tasco wanted the deal with PTT re-negotiated because it 
was afraid it could not complete the project in time and thus be fined by PTT 
for breach of contract due to the opposition against the project.

Under the contract, Tasco would be fined 3.66 million baht a day for the delay 
but not more than 365.9 million baht in total.

Tasco, said the source, offered a bid of 3,659 million baht for the contract, 
about 726 million baht lower than the closest contender.

If the pipeline was re-routed, Tasco would stand to benefit on two points: 
firstly, the construction period would be extended and the company would not 
have to pay the fine and, secondly, the company would earn more from the PTT 
because of the extended route.

Tasco Mannesmann is a joint venture between Mannesmann Demag AG of Germany and 
Tipco Asphalt of Thailand.

Meanwhile, Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh urged groups opposed to construction of 
the pipeline to meet and work out measures to minimise the environmental 
impact.

After yesterday's cabinet meeting, Gen Chavalit said he did not want the issue 
to develop into conflict. Non-governmental organisations opposed to the 
project, including a group of prominent Thai and foreigners led by Sulak 
Sivaraksa, the social critic, should discuss with concerned agencies ways to 
solve the problem, he said.

Gen Chavalit also expressed concern Burma would impose a daily fine of 45 
million baht if the pipeline was not completed by July next year.

Korn Dabbaransi, the industry minister, has assigned the PTT to gather details 
of the project and environmental protection measures so he can discuss the 
matter with Chucheep Harnsawat, the agriculture minister.

It was the previous government that signed a contract with Burma to complete 
the pipeline by July next year, he said. "If the pipeline is re-routed, 
construction may not be completed by July next year," Mr Korn said.

Whether the pipeline would be re-routed or not depended on talks with Mr 
Chucheep, he said.

On Monday, Mr Chucheep said the PTT had not obtained permission to build the 
pipeline through Kanchanaburi forests. He said the ministry would have to 
consider if the project would have adverse effects on the forests. The PTT, he 
said, would be asked to clarify its proposed environmental impact mitigation 
plan before approval could be made.

The agriculture minister confirmed he had assigned Pitiphong Phuengboon, 
deputy permanent secretary for agriculture, to talk to the PTT, the Industry 
Ministry and National Environment Board.

He said the ministry wanted details on the route of the pipeline from the PTT. 
"There have been petitions from various groups over environmental concerns. We 
will have to check if the claims are true. We will also see what the PTT has 
done to minimise the impact," Mr Chucheep added.