The Nation: Editorial & Opinion Cha

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Editorial & Opinion 

      Change the pipeline route

      The national committee set up to review the
      Yadana gas pipeline project is due to make
      its recommendations next week, and it's
      clear what their conclusion should be:
      Change the project's route so that it does
      not pass through the 1A watershed forest in
      the Huay Khayeng reserve, home to several
      rare species of wildlife. 

      The Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT)
      can no longer complain about any delay
      such a procedure might involve because
      Egat has already announced the
      Ratchaburi power plant it is building to
      receive the gas will not be finished on time,
      and may in fact be delayed by several
      months. 

      This should give the PTT time to re-route
      the pipeline so it can run along the road to
      the border town of Ban I-Tong, instead of
      passing through pristine forest. That will
      mean there is only one track crossing
      through the forest instead of two, greatly
      reducing the impact on wildlife. 

      The PTT has anyway revealed that, contrary
      to its earlier hyperbolic assertions, a delay
      won't cost it that much: The money it must
      pay to Burma will simply count toward future
      purchases of natural gas. In the end, it will
      only lose money it would have gained as
      interest. 

      Meanwhile, the PTT must make sure the
      route it has already begun clearing through
      the Huay Khayeng forest is replanted and,
      most importantly, well guarded -- night and
      day -- to protect it against the poachers and
      encroachers who have already begun to
      descend on the area like locusts. It should
      set up a large bond to pay for any damage
      that might ensue if an accident or sabotage
      causes the pipeline to explode. 

      A route adjustment could have been
      worked out a long time ago if the project
      approval process had been carried out in a
      proper and transparent manner. But the
      pipeline was approved by the earlier Chuan
      administration without any consideration for
      the environmental impact on
      Kanchanaburi's forests or the opinions of
      the province's residents. 

      The environmental impact assessment
      (EIA) which was eventually carried out
      included a poll which found that only two of
      136 local people sampled understood what
      the project is; 110 said they had no
      knowledge about it at all. The EIA was also
      poorly done -- its wildlife survey was
      thoroughly inadequate -- but it was
      nevertheless hurriedly approved by
      environmental authorities last March due to
      the PTT's claims of facing a strict deadline. 

      In fact, the national committee could do
      Thailand a great favor by urging a revamp
      of the whole EIA process, which badly
      needs fixing. EIA reports are (inadequately)
      funded by project developers themselves,
      who pressure the consultant firms they hire
      to downplay projected impacts and finish
      up their surveys as quickly as possible. 

      A possible alternative was obliquely
      proposed by committee chairman Anand
      Panyarachun, who noted that in other
      countries EIAs are funded by project
      financiers like the World Bank. If the
      impacts prove to be too great, then they
      simply don't fund the project. 

      There also needs to be more quality control
      of consultants' work, perhaps by penalising
      firms which produce shoddy reports, or
      taking away their licences altogether.
      Finally, politicians can no longer be allowed
      to get away with approving projects whose
      EIAs have yet to be performed. 

      As for the Yadana project itself, opponents
      are no doubt hoping it will simply be
      cancelled, but realistically speaking, the
      committee is unlikely to choose this option.
      The pipeline has already progressed too
      far, and the critics themselves have to
      admit that their protests against the project
      came rather late in the game. 

      The best reason to cancel the pipeline is
      that the hard currency sent by the PTT to
      Burma will prop up the brutal and corrupt
      military junta there for years to come. But
      even some pipeline opponents admit that,
      deplorable as it may be, most Thais simply
      don't care about the project's impact on
      Burma. 

      Only time will tell if this indifference
      eventually comes back to haunt Thailand.