Pipeline project to go ahead

The construction of a Thai-Burmese gas pipeline through rich forests in Kanchanaburi to bring natural gas from Burma's Yadana field must continue although there are still shortcomings to be corrected, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said yesterday.

"I have decided that the project must continue. I don't have the right to stop it. The (Anand Payarachun-led) panel studying the project suggested that I give my opinion to end the controversy.

"My opinion is that the project cannot be scrapped. It must continue. However, observations raised by the panel are useful. They will be passed on to concerned agencies for further action," Mr Chuan said.

The prime minister appointed the panel to sort out differences between the PTT, owner of the project, and grassroots, environmental and human rights groups opposing it.

The panel concluded last Wednesday the PTT was "not transparent" in its implementation of the project and recommended the government act quickly to alleviate social and environmental effects of the project.

Observations on several shortcomings in the project raised by the Anand panel prompted the prime minister to fly to Kanchanaburi yesterday for inspection.

He was accompanied by Amnuay Patise, PM's deputy secretary-general, National Economic and Social Development Board and National Energy Policy Office personnel, and Petroleum Authority of Thailand's project director Somchet Taeracoop.

At the 9th Infantry Division headquarters the prime minister listened to a briefing on the project by governor Direk Uthaipol, who said opponents to the project had ended their protest and gradually left the protest site.

Following the briefing Mr Chuan and his entourage flew in a helicopter to inspect the pipeline route beginning from Ban Itong in Thong Pha Phum district, where the pipeline on the Thai side is to meet the one that is being laid across Burma from the Yadana field in the Andaman Sea.

After the inspection flight, the prime minister said the PTT and other concerned agencies must look into the observations raised by the Anand panel for further action.

Mr Chuan said he noticed several spots in the forest through which the pipeline is being built was being razed by fire. He asked Mr Direk, the provincial governor, to stop the fires.

Asked about social critic Sulak Sivaraksa's vow to state a lone protest if he gives the green light for the project to continue, Mr Chuan said Mr Sulak has the right under the constitution to protect natural resources.

"The pipeline must continue. Whoever wants to go and stay in the forest is free to do so," he said.

A pipeline supporter quickly endorsed Mr Chuan's decision, saying the go-ahead ruling had been a foregone conclusion and the prime minister had merely wanted to properly weigh the project's pros and cons.

"I think the prime minister decided to investigate the project just to test the waters, as the conservationists did not have strong reasons to back up their claims," said Paisan Lab-buangarm chairman of the Kanchanaburi tourism association.

Mr Paisan was the organiser of a huge rally to support the gas pipeline in January which drew thousands of supporters to Kanchanaburi province on the Burmese border.

However, opponents of the project were full of scorn for the premier's statement.

They said the prime minister must have already decided at the outset that the pipeline project had to be continued and the opponents of the project still could not understand even until now why he had wasted his time setting up the Anand committee, said Miss Penphan Intapantee, coordinator of conservationist groups opposing the project.

She reaffirmed, however, that all protesters of the project will be pulled out of the construction site by today to honour an earlier promise.

The pipeline, which will pump natural gas from Burma's Yadana gas field in the Andaman Sea to a power plant in Ratchaburi, was suspended amid protests by conservationists who said it would damage forests and community areas.

Construction on the 260-kilometre Thai section of the pipeline was suspended last month as the government examined the conflicting claims of supporters and opponents of the scheme.

The PTT said any delays in construction would result in it being liable for thousands of dollars in daily fines imposed by the builders of the Burma section, an international consortium which includes United States oil giant Unocal and French company Total.