Bid to halt dam project
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An environmental group yesterday lodged a petition with the Central Administrative Court asking it to nullify the Cabinet's approval of the controversial Mae Wong Dam.
The 151 complainants, led by Srisuwan Janya, chairman of the Stop Global Warming Association, said the dam project was approved without a mandatory public forum. The petition states that the dam would not be worth its estimated Bt13-billion cost and would not prevent flooding in Nakhon Sawan and other areas as cited in its feasibility study.
The petition names four respondents: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the Cabinet, Royal Irrigation Department chief Lertwiroj Kowatthana and Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut.
The petition also accuses Lertwiroj and Theera of inflating the figures on the return on investment in the feasibility study.
The court, through its environmental case department, accepted the petition but has not scheduled a date for the first hearing.
