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THE NATION, FEB: 10, 1998.Yadana Pi



      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