Phetchabun protest over drilling for oil
The oil spill disaster on Koh Samet last month has spurred people in Lomsak in Phetchabun to protest against an oil drilling and exploration project 100 metres from their village.
Locals fear the drilling will cause a negative environmental impact for their homes like the toxic mess at Samet.
Some 60 villagers in Ban Rong Krathin, Tambon Ban Klang in Lomsak in the northern province demonstrated against the oil search by JSX Energy Holdings.
They submitted a petition to Ban Klang Local Administration Organisation chief Sompong Mala, while complaining about two other oil-drilling sites in Wichian Buri and Si Thep districts.
Ban Rong Krathin village chief Soythip Termphan said her village would be the site of drilling for oil but villagers did not want it. “Even officials at provincial and district level accepted the condition put by the company, but for us we are against this project,” she said.
She noted that a related agency had conducted a public hearing for the project but the villagers had no representative at the event.
“They just talked about the benefit of this project without mentioning the negative impact,” she said.
Sompong said he would inform the company about local people’s opposition to the drilling. “The firm should visit the village and provide more detail about the project. It must also seek a consensus from local people,” he said.
