Government says environment not affected on NCPO order

BANGKOK, March 12 (TNA) -- The government has not neglected environmental issues in Thailand following the recent issuance of order number 9/2559 of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), said a spokesman of the Prime Minister’s Office. Maj Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd said several academics and non-governmental organisations have criticised the government on the order which is intended by the NCPO and the government to move the country forward and hence improve people’s livelihood. The amendment order is aimed at fast-tracking the government’s public construction projects. It stipulates that if state projects involving transport, irrigation, disaster prevention, hospitals and housing are still awaiting results of environmental impact assessments (EIA) reports but are in urgent need of implementation, state agencies responsible for the projects may seek cabinet approval to seek private contractors to undertake these projects pending EIA results. It is believed that more than 2,000 projects are now awaiting EIA studies, causing delays while the government wants to move the country forward. Maj Gen Sansern said the government wanted to move government-sponsored small projects during the beginning of 2016 and then to mega projects from the middle to the end of this year. If these projects are delayed for any reason, it would impact the national economy, he said. Both the EIA and the EHIA (Environmental Health Impact Assessment) will be carried out and if the projects failed to pass an evaluation, they would have to be scrapped, he said. Investor partnerships will, of course, be affected in future if projects failed to pass EIA or EHIA but the damage will not be inflicted on the government, Maj Gen Sansern added. (TNA)