Group drums up support for anti-dam law
The Anti-Global Warming Association will soon dispatch environmental law experts to conduct seminars in 40 provinces and obtain power of attorney from 13,820 people to file a lawsuit at the Administrative Court seeking the cancellation of the Mae Wong Dam
Association president Srisuwan Chanya said yesterday that the association also aimed to gather at least 10,000 signatures in support of draft legislation that would limit dam construction. He said details of the draft legislation would be presented at the seminars so that people could add their signatures to the effort to propose the law, thereby participating in the democratic process while jointly declaring their wish not to see large dam building in future.
He said the draft bill would prohibit state agencies, state enterprises and other public/private organisations from proposing or proceeding with construction of dams with capacity over 50 million cubic metres. It would also prohibit dam construction in 1A watershed-classification zones or in forestland, national parks, conserved areas and wildlife sanctuaries, he said.
The bill would also require that environmental and health impact assessment reports be completed on dam projects before proceeding to construction activity. This would give all stakeholders the opportunity to participate in decision-making at every step, and allow for the gathering of opinions from non-governmental organisations working in environmental and health fields, he said.
The association reasoned that, at present, there were attempts to use large dam construction as an excuse to spend huge budgets on projects that are not economically or environmentally worthwhile. This also leads to the destruction of natural resources and community livelihoods as well as conflicts, so the draft bill was needed to limit such dam construction, it said.
Meanwhile, a group of demonstrators yesterday called on the government to cut the gasoline price to Bt19 per litre, LPG to Bt9, cooking gas to Bt150 per 15 kg and NGV to Bt8.5 per kg, and for lower prices on 2,000 goods, at a rally in front of the Army Club on Bangkok’s Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road.
The demonstration site and nearby areas were guarded by 150 policemen, while soldiers guarded the club area to keep protesters out of military facilities. The rally caused traffic delays in the area.
The protesters, calling themselves "People’s Group to Take Power Back from Ungrateful Politicians", announced from a temporary stage on a six-wheel truck that people paid high prices for natural resources due to politicians’ administrative failures. They demanded the natural resources be returned to the public and urged the Army to back them. The rally later moved to a site near the Army headquarters on Rajdamnoen Avenue.
