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THE NATION, FEB: 10, 1998.Yadana Pi
- Subject: THE NATION, FEB: 10, 1998.Yadana Pi
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 20:30:00
Anand ready to chair
Yadana pipeline panel
PM's Office Minister Supatra Masdit says
former prime minister Anand Panyarachun
has agreed to chair a national panel to
resolve disputes surrounding the Yadana
pipeline project.
The composition and agenda of the new
panel are being ironed out between
Supratra and environmental activists.
Supatra said Monday Anand had accepted
the chairmanship of the committee despite
time constraints.
In an apparent reconciliation, the Petroleum
Authority of Thailand (PTT), builder of the
Yadana gas pipeline, Monday agreed to
halt the pipeline construction for 10 days
pending the formation of the national
committee to review the project.
PTT officials in the past have objected
strongly to delays in construction, claiming it
will have to pay stiff fines to its contractor
for each day of delay and even larger fines
to its partners in Burma if it does not finish
the project on time in July.
Commenting on public calls for him to
make a decision on the pipeline, Prime
Minister Chuan Leekpai Monday insisted
the government was not charged with ruling
on the dispute between the PTT and
opponents of the pipeline project.
''It is the responsibility of the PTT to reason
with villagers,'' he said.
Chuan conceded the construction would
require cutting down trees although they
could grow back in the afforestation
programme.
Since the PTT has a good track record on
afforestation, the public should closely
monitor whether it will return more trees to
the forest than it has cut down, he advised.
The prime minister urged all parties
concerned to continue negotiating until they
reconciled their differences, saying the
project was useful.
Environmentalists have camped out in the
Kanchanaburi forest to hamper the
construction on the grounds that it was
being carried out without an adequate study
into the impact.
Science Minister Yingphan Manasikarn
Monday reiterated the project had passed
the scrutiny of the Environmental Policy and
Planning Office, adding environmentalists
participated in the study.
''The project has only minimal impact on the
forest while it would enable the country to
meet future demands on energy,'' he said.
A group of eight foreign environmental
advocates Monday presented a petition to
Government House opposing the pipeline
and advising the government to halt
construction until it completed a public
hearing on the environmental impact.
Pipeline opponents, who include local
conservationists and national environmental
groups, have called for the pipeline's route
to be changed so that it does not pass
through a pristine watershed-forest area
which is home to numerous wildlife,
including several herds of elephants.
The Nation