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Published on September 29, 2007

The government's decision to give the go-ahead to 11 new petrochemical plants in Rayong's Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate - despite ongoing environmental protests and a public health crisis there - was a foregone conclusion. Last week a committee chaired by Pornchai Rujiprapha, the permanent secretary of the Energy Ministry, which was assigned to devise a remedial plan to mitigate the problems, said it had drawn up a plan consisting of anti-pollution measures and a public-health upgrade. The plan to be submitted to the National Environmental Board requires that two conditions be met. First, existing plants in Map Ta Phut, the country's most important petrochemical complex, must drastically lower emission rates of gaseous toxic substances like nitrogen and sulphur dioxide - this so that the new projects will not raise the overall emission rates to dangerous levels. Second, the public and private sectors must pool resources to improve environmental conditions at Map Ta Phut generally.

The plan will call for the public and private sectors to spend Bt22 billion between now and 2011 to upgrade the healthcare system and improve the quality of life of Rayong residents. Bt19 billion - the bulk of which will be spent on pollution-reduction equipment - will come from operators of petrochemical plants, while Bt3 billion will come from the government. The rationale is that there is no environmental problem or public health crisis that cannot be resolved if the public and private sectors put enough effort and financial resources into dealing with it.

There may be some truth to this. But the National Environmental Board, which advised the government on the plan to add the 11 petrochemical plants, must also take into consideration the fact that the ecosystem cannot suffer additional pollutants without breaking down. People who live in proximity to the industrial area have become ill. Some have developed serious health conditions, including higher-than-usual incidences of leukaemia. One study showed that leukaemia - a cancer of the blood cells - is more prevalent among residents of Map Ta Phut than elsewhere in Thailand, with seven out of 100,000 there contracting the disease, compared with only three or four per 100,000 of the general population. Almost 100 industrial plants, including 45 petrochemical factories, eight coal-fired power plants, 12 chemical-fertiliser factories and two oil refineries are located on the 7,000-rai Map Ta Phut Estate, which became operational in 1990.

Government authorities, including industrial and environmental regulatory bodies and the Public Health Ministry, which are now working on the mitigation plan, should realise that people do not have a whole lot of confidence in them, judging from their past performance.

It is well known that previous governments focused on promoting the petrochemical industry - considering it vital to national development - and attracting investors to set up shop in Map Ta Phut. This was done at the expense of strict enforcement of industrial and environmental standards. The very same agencies that have now been assigned to reverse the environmental and public health problems were responsible for causing them in the first place. They neglected to take action against industrial plants that failed to live up to standards or exceeded the permissible emission rates.

In order to inspire public trust that this time around they mean business and will do their utmost to protect people and the environment, these agencies must own up to their past mistakes. Let's not forget that the problems in Map Ta Phut did not occur suddenly. There were a series of warning signs and incidents indicating a correlation between industrial activity and poor public health. For example, in 1997 hundreds of teachers and students at a Map Ta Phut school fell ill with respiratory problems, and many of them were hospitalised with acute conditions. Sulphur dioxide and volatile organic compounds emitted from factories on the estate were said to have been the cause of the sickness, and the school was relocated. In 1998 a high concentration of more than 10 cancer-causing, volatile organic compounds, including benzene, was found in the atmosphere in and around Map Ta Phut - but no action was taken until late last year.

The problem is that the relevant government authorities allowed politicians to tell them to stay quiet and sweep it under the rug. The priority for the government is to reassure the public that such criminal negligence will not be allowed to happen again.