Government
gives way to most protester demands
Gates to
be opened at Pak Moon dam
Post Reporters, Bangkok Post, July 26, 2000
The government agreed to
most of the demands of protesting villagers yesterday but rejected some,
including the dropping of criminal charges.
The government announced its stand last night after the cabinet
discussed the issue for three hours.
|
Student activists
yesterday mock the government's use of police to clear protesters at
Government House on July 16. _ JETJARUS NA RANONG
|
Banyat Bantadtan, the interior minister, said: "The government has
done its best to accommodate the villagers' demands. But there are certain
things with which we really cannot comply."At least 10 cabinet
members joined Mr Banyat in a briefing to try to convey the message to
some 3,000 villagers who have been protesting at Government House for
nearly a month.
A government-appointed central committee had forwarded its
recommendations to the government on ways to address the villagers'
complaints, divided into 16 different cases involving eight on the impact
from dam projects, five on forest land encroachment and three over land
rights.
Mr Banyat said the government has agreed to comply with demands
pertaining to problems of six of the eight dams and will accommodate most
of the complaints over forest land encroachment and land rights issues.
The villagers' demand for the Electricity Generating Authority of
Thailand to open sluice gates at Pak Moon and Sai Salai dams will be met.
The construction of three other dams will be suspended and an environment
impact assessment study will be conducted. Compensation will also be paid
in one of the dam cases.
The cabinet, however, decided not to comply with new compensation
demands for Sirindhorn and Huay Laha dams. Mr Banyat said all the 1,270
families affected by Sirindhorn dam, which was built in 1971, had already
been paid.
The other dam project, in Ubon Ratchathani, was a very small irrigation
dyke and there was no legal basis for the Irrigation Department to pay
villaers who might be affected.
In the forest and land rights cases, the government has agreed to
provide legal recognition to settlers by issuing them with land ownership
certificates under the land reform scheme. No land title deed, which gives
full recognition of the villagers' rights to the land, will be issued for
villagers encroaching on the forest reserves.
A call for the government to scrap a cabinet resolution requiring the
use of an aerial map to verify the villagers' right to the land was also
rejected.
The government also refused to waive legal action against those who
violated the law during the protest.
"Those who were arrested have been sent to court and we simply
cannot comply with the demand as it will be tantamount to interfering with
the court," a spokesman said.
Some of the protest leaders were not satisfied with the resolution even
though many of the recommendations by the government-appointed committee
to solve their problems were met.
Chaiphan Praphasawat said: "The government has betrayed us
again."He was not surprised the cabinet resolution came out that way
because the cabinet only listened to permanent officials. No one from the
committee or the protesters had been asked to provide information to the
cabinet.
Protesters apparently were uncertain about their response to the
resolution. Some leaders wanted to go ahead with a hunger strike while
others were more cautious. At press time, they were still discussing what
action to take today.
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai pleaded with protesters to cancel their
plan to go on hunger strike. "We have already done what we can do,
but we cannot do what cannot be done." |
