Some suspended projects could go ahead

At the Public-Private Partnership meeting yesterday, project owners agreed to use EIA as a criterion to comply with the court's injunction ordering eight government agencies to suspend the companies' projects.

The last paragraph of the injunction exempts projects or activities that received "licences" before the 2007 Constitution was enforced.

"We agreed to interpret the word 'licence' as an EIA. Therefore, projects that have undergone EIA before should be allowed to continue," said Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) vice chairman Payungsak Chartsutipol.

FTI chairman Santi Vilassakdanont, meanwhile, said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had accepted the solutions offered by the Joint Private Committee on Commerce, Industries and Banking.

The solutions mainly focus on lifting the locals' standard of living and improving the infrastructure by declaring Rayong as a special economic zone.

However, Srisuwan Janya, president of the Stop Global Warming Association, said it was not necessary to turn Rayong into a special economic zone, but instead the government and state agencies should perform their roles and obligations clearly.

He also called on the government to consider the public's draft of an independent body and allow representatives of the local community to participate in the revision of the Environment Act's Article 52.

He added that industrial activities harmful to the local community should follow the Constitution's Article 46, which covers more than the eight activities announced by the Industry Ministry recently.

The Thai Bankers Association yesterday submitted an open letter to Abhisit, asking all parties to settle their dispute on industrial development in Map Ta Phut.

Apisak Tantiworavong, president of Krung Thai Bank and chairman of the association, said the issue should be resolved urgently because the dispute does not just affect the owners of the 76 suspended industrial projects but also their partners, financiers and the public. This could also hurt employment and the confidence of investors, particularly foreign ones.

"There are rules that all projects winning bank loans need to protect the environment. These projects have passed the EIA, and they are committed to undertaking a health-impact assessment," he said.

Apisak added that the 76 projects, with a combined investment of Bt330 billion, could generate more than Bt200 billion in annual income.