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Open minds needed in talks on dam

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/19Dec2002_news41.html

There will be one question deserving of an immediate answer when Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sits down for talks tomorrow with representatives of the Pak Moon dam protesters at Government House: Are both parties sincerely committed to finding a solution to their differences which have lingered on for so many years now?

Common sense dictates that the more contentious an issue, the more difficult it is to settle. But there is no problem which cannot be overcome if the disputants accept the basic principle of give and take and are determined to work their way peacefully to a solution or compromise. Equally important is mutual trust, for this helps smooth the way of negotiations. The unannounced visit by Mr Thaksin to the protesters' campsite near Government House the day after their shelters were destroyed by hooded thugs on the night of Dec 5 must be seen as an attempt to assure the protesters that the government is sincere in solving their problems.

Unfortunately, it is the lack of trust that the government and the protesters have in each other that looks to have contributed to the events in Ubon Ratchathani on Sunday when unidentified hoodlums torched the protesters' village near the dam site. This incident triggered more finger pointing by government officials and the Assembly of the Poor, the non-governmental organisation which has supported the protesters' cause from the beginning. Making the matter worse is that the prime minister appears to have accepted the officials' claims that it was activists who set fire to the homes.

To ensure a fruitful outcome from the meeting tomorrow it is essential that both Mr Thaksin and the Pak Moon villagers set aside their prejudices and mistrust, and concentrate on arriving at an acceptable compromise. This means the government, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand in particular, may need to make some sacrifice.

At the heart of this long-running dispute is the demand from the Pak Moon protesters that all the dam's sluice gates be opened all year round so they can pursue their traditional way of life centred on fishing. Egat is dead set against such a move.

If Egat continues to protest that the permanent opening of the sluice gates is too much to ask, then the government should look at the option of opening the gates for five years so that another study can be commissioned into the overall impact of the dam on the environment and people's way of life.

Let's state the facts clearly. Egat's damming of the Moon was wrong from the start. The 136Mw of electricity supposedly generated by the dam _ a target all too often not met because of the shortfall in water supplies behind the dam _ cannot justify the immense suffering caused to the villagers who lived a humble but happy life in harmony with the river for generations before the coming of the dam. This project has had an adverse impact on fish stocks, it has destroyed the river's reefs, and thousands of people have had to be relocated.

The government this year opened the sluice gates for four months during the rainy season. This was a sensible decision to provide enormous relief to the Pak Moon villagers. Many fish species returned to the river to spawn and breed, providing local people with a handy source of protein and income. Villagers have suffered long and hard since the damming of the Moon river began nearly 14 years ago. Surely it is time the Thaksin government did something to alleviate their ordeal. The villagers just want to live their lives in the same way as their ancestors. Is this really too much to ask of the state?

 
 

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