Plans for new power plants pose dilemma

General News - Tuesday December 11, 2007

Plans for new power plants pose dilemma

Food exports could be at risk, say producers

ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT

Whether to build more power plants or save fertile natural resources to maintain the country's ranking as a major food exporter is a big dilemma facing Thailand at the moment.

The conflict has become even more intense since private energy producers proposed building coal-fired power plants in Samut Songkhram's Mae Klong and Chachoengsao's Bang Pakong estuaries _ two of the country's most pristine food hubs.

Local people argue the power plants would have an impact on the inner Gulf of Thailand's ecology, which has already been severely degraded by pollutants washed down by rivers, wastewater discharged from factories along the coast and coastal erosion.

The planned power plants are in line with the Energy Ministry's Power Development Plan 2007, which proposes construction of 27 coal-fired generating plants with a total capacity of 18,200 megawatts within 15 years.

Mae Klong natives, who largely depend on catching fish in canals and the Gulf, or growing fruit and vegetables, says their home is ''the country's last frontier of food security'' and the best place to live in Thailand.

''Pla tu (mackerel) caught in the Mae Klong estuary are the most delicious and nutritious from the Gulf, thanks to loads of nutrients brought along by the rivers and dumped into our sea,'' said Surajit Chirawate, leader of the Love Mae Klong group and chairman of Samut Songkhram's chamber of commerce.

Fruit common to Mae Klong, such as lychee and pomelo, are also tasty thanks to nutrients accumulated in the Mae Klong soil, he said.

''However, our fruit and pla tu will no longer be the pride of the Mae Klong if the government gives the go-ahead for the power plant construction and operation,'' he said.

The proposed Mae Klong power plant would be sited near Don Hoi Lod wetland _ a popular tourist site designated as one of the world's most important wetlands under the Ramsar Convention.

Information from coastal communities where such power plants are already in operation suggests water from the plant's cooling system would be discharged into the sea, he said.

This water would be hot and could be harmful to marine life.

The project's environmental impact assessment study (EIA) also lacks adequate information on ecological impacts and community participation, he said.

The businessman-turned-conservationist said not only the Mae Klong estuary should be preserved as a food production hub, but also the four other estuaries along the Gulf _ Phetchaburi, Tha Chin, Chao Phraya and Bang Pakong.

If these food hubs were allowed to be damaged by pollution from power plants, and ecological changes caused by their operation, Thailand would no longer be secure in its status as one of the world's top food exporters, he said.

A few hundred kilometres east of the Mae Klong estuary, Chavalit Ngo-thied and his Love Mae Bang group, which concentrates on conservation of the Bang Pakong river, have drummed up a protest against another proposed coal-fired power plant.

Planned by Ital-Thai Co, the Ban Khao Din power plant is to be located on the ''green area'' of Chachoengsao's city plan, which is preserved for agricultural and conservation purposes.

The local leader said Ban Khao Din in Bang Pakong district, where the plant is planned, is already at risk of pollution from the oil and petrochemical industry and agribusiness factories in the area.

If the power plant is built, fish and shrimp farmers and the other people who make a living from the Bang Pakong river will suffer, he said.

''We have gathered some 30,000 signatures of those directly and indirectly affected by the project and we will not easily agree to a compromise if the project goes ahead,'' said Mr Chavalit.

The big question is now being asked of the relevant authorities by local residents of Chachoengsao, Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Saraburi, Rayong and Prachuap Khiri Khan, as well as by a number of advocacy groups.

Mae Klong and Bang Pakong communities are not alone in their battle against the proposed power plants.

Late last month, hundreds of people rallied at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Energy Ministry calling for the suspension of all power plant projects pending thorough discussions with local people and environmental experts.

The demonstrators were from Chachoengsao, Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Saraburi, Rayong and Prachuap Khiri Khan. All these provinces have been chosen as sites of planned power plants under the 2007 plan.

By : Bangkok Post