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Assembly
of the Poor Demand Government to Permanently Open Pak Mun Dam
Khaosod
(Original in Thai)
September 17, 2002
At 10:00am on September 16, 2002, about 700 members of the Assembly of the
Poor arrived at the Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Hall from Mee Mun Man Yuu
Village No. 1 in Khongchiam District. They rallied and demanded the
Government to order the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT)
to open the Pak Mun Dam sluice gates permanently in order to restore the
nature of the Mun River. Villagers will stay there until they receive an
answer from the Government. They built a stage on the street on the
western
side of the Provincial Hall building. They also helped each other install
temporary shacks for taking a rest. Due to this, the Provincial authority
had to close the traffic at the entrance where villagers are gathering.
Mr. Thongcharoen Srihathaam, a protest leader, said that the Assemblyfs
demand that the Government should permanently open the Pak Mun Dam sluice
gates to restore the livelihood of the communities as well as natural
resources that had been damaged by the construction of the Dam had led to
the cabinetfs decision to order EGAT to open the dam gates. This has
further led the University of Ubon Ratchathani to conduct research to
examine effects of the gate opening in order to collect information to
solve
this problem according to the demands of the Assembly. With the sluice
gates
open throughout the year, the ecology of the Mun River basin has restored
itself, bringing back the richness, which is the basis of the livelihood
of
people living on both sides of the River. We would like to request the
Government to solve the problem by keeping the Pak Mun Dam sluice gates
open
forever.
Mr. Thongcharoen also said that while the Assembly of the Poor makes
efforts
to recover natural resources of the River basin, it seems that in Phibun
Mangsahan and Sirinthon Districts some business people have trespassed
onto
a forest and cleared off trees on the Khampuwang Islet located in the
River.
This has deteriorated the conditions of the forest and damaged plants and
herbs that villagers have collectively been utilizing. We would like to
request the Provincial Government to immediately intervene and solve this
problem. Another reason for this action is to urge the Government to solve
such problems as the Sirinthon Dam, the Huaylaha Dam, and the Tunglung
common land. The Assembly of the Poor thus will stay here until we receive
an answer from the Government.
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