Police want Section 44 to solve hazardous waste problems

BANGKOK, June 22 (TNA) – The Royal Thai Police Office will propose the prime minister exercise Section 44 of the Interim Constitution to tackle the smuggling of hazardous waste because there are obstacles with existing laws. Deputy national police chief Wirachai Songmetta said he would submit the proposal as there were legal loopholes and problems with many organisations dealing with the importation of hazardous waste. In the meantime, the police joined forces with concerned organisations including the Customs Department and the Industry Ministry to prosecute the smugglers of hazardous waste. Pol Gen Wirachai said so far he did not find any government official abusing authority to help the smugglers. He admitted that authorities found it difficult to prosecute the foreigners who ran illegal waste recycling businesses because they had their proxies supervise the operations. The Department of Industrial Works licensed seven companies to import electronic waste and five of them were found with illegal operations. The rest two companies were being investigated. Operators sought permission to import about 100,000 tons of electronic waste but police found more than 500,000 tons of such waste had been smuggled in. Pol Gen Wirachai said police were trying to find the sources of the smuggled waste. (TNA)