'Work harder to protect environment'
Manufacturers and other private companies should expand their business priorities to reduce environmental damage and work with communities to improve environmental conditions, a seminar was told yesterday.
"[They] must work harder with local people and agencies to reduce any impact caused by their business activities," Payungsak Chartsuthipol, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said.
He was speaking at a national conference entitled "Thailand Sustainable Development Symposium 2011" organised by the Siam Cement Group (SCG).
Several thousand delegates from various sectors attended - including state agencies, businesses, and civic groups.
Payungsak said business owners and manufacturers, including small and medium enterprises, and supply chain companies, should see beyond their profit margins and show concern, and improve measures to lessen the impact of their activities. "Local people should know what industry is doing to their natural surroundings."
Anti-Global Warming Assoc-iation head Srisuwan Chanya said business should allocate funds from its profits to help communities improve conditions in factory neighbourhoods.
"The private sector should not only earn profit for their businesses but must contribute or return something to the community to improve it," he said.
Srisuwan said big companies should also provide knowledge or technical assistance to help small manufacturers to improve their means to cut environmental impacts for the community.
Nisakorn Kositratna, secretary-general of the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, said her agency was considering how to revise the process of conducting environmental impact assessments (EIA), to allow more public participation, especially among those affected by industrial projects.
The Administrative Court's spokesperson Pairoj Minden said both public participation and recognition of community rights would be increasingly important in the future as the Constitution had accepted the existence of such rights in protecting the environment for local communities.
But he said problems were being caused state officials who were ignorant about strict enforcement of laws to protect people's surroundings.
Associate Professor Narong Jaiharn of Thammasat University said law enforcement was not the only way to protect the environment from industry. Manufacturers must also be made aware of the need to create the right conditions around their factories.
