More than 200 Rayong residents protested outside
Integrated Refinery & Petrochemical Complex Co.’s Maptaput facility to
oppose the company’s 42 billion baht expansion plan.
The Khon Rak Baan Khai neighborhood group, Rayong
Administration Organization Council President Setha Pitudecha, former Rayong
Prison Warden Apirak Ruangrit and local government officials complained the
project will consume more than 2,000 rai of land near the Rayong River that
would better serve nearby residents as a park.
Setha said more than 1,000 people have signed a petition
opposing IRPC’s expansion, claiming the project has not passed through any
environmental or health-impact studies and that the company was ignoring
local concerns.
IRPC last year unveiled plans to dramatically expand its
Rayong refinery over the next five years through 19 projects related to both
refining and petrochemicals. Southeast Asia’s largest petrochemical complex
also plans to widen the array of petrochemical products manufactured
locally.
Work on the so-called “Phoenix Projects” was delayed due
to lengthy environmental litigation filed against the Maptaput Industrial
Estate, but with those concerns largely resolved, expansion plans are again
moving forward.
Despite the jobs Maptaput brings to the region, Setha said Maptaput has
had a negative impact on the Rayong community and that opponents would stage
even larger protests if their concerns remain unaddressed.
