PAK MOOL DAM: Sluice gates opened as
deal struck
The Nation , June 3, 2001
All eight sluice-gates of Pak Mool Dam were opened yesterday after the
Electricity Genera-ting Authority of Thailand (Egat) agreed to compensate
protestors with Bt5 million. Ubon Ratchathani Governor Rungrit Makarapong,
together with high-ranking officials from the province, succeeded in
making
a deal with the protestors who did not want the gates to be opened and had
occupied the area in front of the gates.
Under the agreement, Egat will set up a fund worth Bt5 million for Hua Hew
villagers as compensation for the damage after the gates are opened.
However, the Hua Hew villagers, led by Supan Wangpol, want protestors
under
the umbrella of the Assembly of the Poor (AOP) to move out of the dam site
too.
Although the Cabinet's resolution on May 17, responding |to demands by the
AOP, asked Egat to open the gates for four months from May 24, the
resolution was only enforced yester-day.
Egat claimed that if it had opened the gates on May 24, the strong current
of water would have swept away all the Hua Hew villagers who were camping
in front of the gates.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra even visited the site on May 25 to
negotiate a compromise with the protestors who did not want the gates to
be
opened, but he failed to make a deal with the villagers.
Pak Mool villagers who had joined the AOP demanded that Egat open the
gates, since there had been no fish in the Mool River since the dam had
begun storing the water.
They hoped that fish would swim up to the river if the gates were opened.
Hua Hew villagers who were against the AOP's demand claimed that opening
the gates would affect the aqua-culture.
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Pak
Moon dam gates opened despite opposition from villagers
Bangkok Post
June 3, 2001
Operators of Pak Moon dam have complied with a cabinet resolution and
opened all eight sluice gates, despite opposition from villagers.
Residents of Hua Haew village, Khong Chiam district, Ubon Ratchathani were
against the opening of the gates because the lower water level would
affect their fish farming businesses. About 100 villagers began their
protest against the opening of the gates on
May 1. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand said it could not
comply with the cabinet resolution because of the protest. The cabinet
resolution ordered the gates to be opened for four months beginning from
May 15, to allow fish to spawn upstream. |
