Villagers get ready for long march
Call for dam gates to be permanently
open
Bangkok Post, October 8, 2001
The Assembly of the Poor will lead 70 villagers on a march
from Ubon Ratchathani to Government House tomorrow to demand the Pak Moon
dam sluice gates be kept open permanently.
Thongcharoen Seehatham, a leader of the group, said
the 70 male and female protesters would walk 15 kilometres a day until they
reached Government House. The march was expected to take over 50 days.
He said the march was aimed at highlighting the plight of
people living above the dam, whose demands have been ignored by the
government. They could not fish anymore because the dam prevented fish from
the Mekong river migrating upstream to spawn in the Moon river. ``The people
have asked in vain for the government to solve the problem. They are losing
their way of life forever,'' Mr Thongcharoen said.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
reportedly closed all eight sluice gates on Saturday to start power
generation. The move was taken after a tentative four-month opening period
ended. Cabinet ordered the gates opened for four months while officials
studied the environmental impact of the dam.
Ubon Ratchathani governor Chaisit Hotrakit said he would
try to convince the Assembly of the Poor not to stage the march but admitted
be could not stop the protesters if they were determined to go. He also said
he would follow progress of the environmental study by Ubon Ratchathani
University.
Residents would have to respect the findings since the
study was conducted under standard procedures, he said. |
