PAK MOOL FACE-OFF: No negotiations, say villagers
Nantiya
Tangwisutijit, The Nation, Dec 20, 2002
Will economic benefit again override social costs when the Pak Mool Dam saga
reaches yet another climax today?
While no clear-cut answer can be expected when 30 representatives of the Pak
Mool villagers meet Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at Government House
today, a close adviser to the premier hinted that the villagers are likely
to meet with disappointment once again.
Watcharaphan Chankachorn said it was unlikely that a final decision by the
premier would favour the villagers' demand to keep the Pak Mool Dam's sluice
gates permanently open in order to restore their fishing livelihoods.
"It has never happened in Thailand [that the government decided against
economic gain]," he said. "I believe the final decision will be
based on overall benefits to the nation, not those of the conflicting
partners [the villagers and the Electricity Generating Authority of
Thailand]."
The villagers, however, insisted they are not prepared to enter into any
negotiations today.
Villager Thongdam Chataphan said he and the other 29 representatives who
will be attending the meeting are authorised to accept only a
"yes" from Thaksin.
"If the government tries to negotiate, we will have to come back and
consult the others waiting outside. How can only 30 of us decide the future
of thousands of people?" Thongdam said.
Watcharaphan said today's meeting at Government House was a good first step
toward a solution because the villagers would be able to air their
grievances in front of the premier, as well as millions of fellow citizens
when the meeting is broadcast live on Channel 11.
Thongcharoen Sihatham, another village representative from Ubon Ratchathani,
said that although he is not fluent in the Bangkok accent, he would try his
best to communicate with the premier and the Thai public.
However, Senator Chermsak Pinthong said yesterday that Thaksin might be
asking the wrong question when he chooses between "fish or
electricity"?
"We need both, but with different priorities," he said. "The
recovery of the ecology and people's livelihood must come first. We still
have time to look for alternative sources of electricity supply. Why hurry
when we have 6,000 MW of power sitting idle today?"
Chermsak, who heads the Senate committee on public participation, said even
if the government decided to decommission the Pak Mool Dam in the long run
it should not demolish the concrete structure.
"We should leave it as the country's monument of disgrace [because of
the social, environmental and economic losses it caused]," he
said.
Energy expert Decharat Sukamnerd, of Kasetsart University's Economic
Faculty, said the second best option to permanently opening the dam's sluice
gates was to open them for eight months a year to restore fisheries, and
leave four months for power generation.
His suggestion is based on one of four recommendations in the most recent
studies on the dam's impact by Ubon Rachathaini University.
Meanwhile, another Pak Mool representative, Paolo Khamsawad, said the
villagers planned to divide their presentation at Government House into
three parts. The first would concentrate on the natural fertility of the
Mool River prior to the dam's construction; the second on how villagers'
livelihoods have been damaged by the dam; and last on how fisheries and the
river ecology have recovered over the past year when the dam's gates were
opened.
"We only have facts to present," he said. "If the government
is not sympathetic, we have no choice but to stand firm, fighting for the
right to the livelihoods we deserve. |
