Rayong residents plan to rally at Govt House

Some of the residents will be rallying in favour of an appeal, while others will oppose it.

The stakes are high. On one hand, there is credible evidence that industrialisation in several parts of Rayong has led to serious health and quality-of-life problems, prompting communities to seek the court's ruling.

On the other hand, industrial groups and policy-makers are worried the ruling will adversely affect new investment projects in the province.

Given this, the National Environment Board will hold its first meeting on Monday to decide whether to appeal the Rayong Administrative Court ruling.

Rutchayuth Wongputchong, a community leader, said the NEB should accept the ruling because it was time to be fair to the local community.

"The NEB should not appeal the court's ruling, so that local administrative bodies can play a bigger role in reducing pollution in these areas," he said.

Operating in a pollution-control zone, existing industrial projects - as well as those with approved environmental impact assessments (EIA) - would need to be reviewed.

"We need not only EIA, but also HIA [health impact assessment]," he said.

"If the current pollution-reduction plan is good, we will keep on using it. But we need to revise it if we find problems. We will also evaluate results every six months or once a year," he added.

Industry Minister Charnchai Chairungrueng, who visited Map Ta Phut yesterday, was asked to require Rayong factories to pay more taxes directly to local communities.

Itthiphon Jamjang, president of a Map Ta Phut and Ban Chang communities' foundation, said he would lead local people to Government House on Monday in support of an NEB appeal, as the province's tourism and fishery sectors would be negatively affected by the ruling.

"If the court ruling damaged new investment in Map Ta Phut, local people would inevitably face difficulties. For the past two years, pollution emission in this area has been reduced," he said.

There are 31 communities in Map Ta Phut with a total of about 47,000 residents, and another 14 in Ban Chang with 28,000 residents.

Sutha H Mahathol, chairman of the Ban Chang-Map Ta Phut Tourist and Environment Association, said he hoped the NEB would appeal, as the number of tourists had fallen since the court issued its ruling.

The industry minister yesterday listened to both sides' arguments, saying the government had not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling.