Villagers mount macabre protest against biomass power plant
To protest against the construction of a sugar factory and 60-megawatt biomass power plant, residents of three villages in Tambon Wang Mai, Wang Somboon district, Sa Kaew province, this week erected protest signs made of cloth used to wrap corpses at their homes and at various sites in their communities.
The protest signs read: “We don’t want sugar factory-biomass power plant”, “Factory=Water pollution” and “We raise milk cattle, we don’t want factory”.
The protest followed community visits by factory personnel last week meant to push the project forward despite the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning’s rejection of the third environmental impact assessment draft report on August 30.
Villagers said they did not want the sugar factory and biomass power plant to be built near their communities and milk cattle cooperatives, because it would affect milk production as well as the cultivation of mangoes for export and off-season longans.
Residents said they had a petition to submit to the King and would file a complaint with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and related agencies about the project.
Longan farmer Maneeroj Jongsomjit said villagers put up the protest signs made of cloth used to wrap corpses to signify that if the project goes ahead, it would be the death of the community.
