Korbsak
Sapawasu, secretary to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, meets with citizens
and business leaders at Rayong’s Maptaput industrial zone.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Five projects aimed at better monitoring industrial
pollution and bolstering the water supply in Rayong’s Maptaput industrial
zone should be complete within three months, according to the Prime
Minister’s Office.
Speaking at an Oct. 15 progress meeting at the Government
Office Center in Rayong, Korbsak Sapawasu, secretary to Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva, estimated that monitoring systems for hazardous
materials, water quality and environmental quality would be finished at the
same time as an expansion of the water supply system to ensure both industry
and residents have enough clean water.
The meeting with 33 community representatives, Rayong
Gov. Tawatchai Terdphaothai, the Industrial Estate of Thailand, Rayong
Industrial Office, and other units came as the government tries to solve the
last remaining complaints that led to this year’s court-ordered suspension
of dozens of Maptaput developments. All but a handful of the projects have
been allowed to resume.
As part of the court settlement, the government agreed to
measure “VOCs,” or volatile organic compounds, as well as build a
water-quality monitoring station and an environmental-quality surveillance
center. Authorities also pledged to resolve water supply issues that fueled
some of the legal complaints.
Korbsak said he was satisfied with the progress on the
water system construction project, which has restored water quality and
supply to “Uncle Noi,” one of the plaintiffs in the court case. He said the
water system and the other four measures should be complete within three
months.
Other projects, however, may need more time to be
completed, Korbsak said, including the controversial “natural buffer zone”
being built between PTT Polyethylene Co. and homes on Pracharat Songkhro
Road. The secretary and his team inspected this area following the meeting
and concluded that perhaps faster growing trees should be used.
Local activists and international environmental group Greenpeace have
criticized the plan to build a grove of trees to shield residents from
pollution as inadequate. And Korbsak’s opinion following his tour may have
bolstered their argument. The secretary said the new trees planted need
three years to mature, which does nothing to solve the problem right now. He
said faster-growing or mature trees are needed instead.
