Act won't solve Map Ta Phut pollution, say activists

       The draft amendment of the environment act, expected to be approved by the cabinet today, will not solve problems associated with the Map Ta Phut pollution saga, activists say.
       "It will only create more problems,"Stop Global Warming Association president Srisuwan Janya said."This is not what we want."
       Mr Srisuwan and 43 Rayong villagers won an Administrative Court case on Sept 29 when the court ordered the suspension of 76 industrial projects in the eastern province.
       The plaintiffs accused agencies in-volved of malpractice for allowing the projects to go ahead without seeking opinions from locals and the independent organisation on environment as required by Article 67 of the constitution.
       The court's injunction prompted the government to draft a law on the establishment of an independent organisation by amending the 1992 Enhancement and Conservation of the National Environmental Quality Act.
       The draft amendment requires the state agency in charge of approving the projects to seek advice from the independent body, while project developers must conduct health impact assessment studies and hold public hearings before going ahead with projects.
       Drafted by the Council of State, the government's legal arm, the amendment will be tabled for the cabinet's approval today.
       The government believes the amendment to the environment act will enable some investment projects suspended by the court injunction to move ahead.
       Activists and environmental law experts, however, said the draft law was unacceptable because it did not guarantee that the independent organisation would be "truly independent".
       Under the draft, any environmental or academic group or juristic person can become an "independent organisation" by registering with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.
       The independent organisation must come up with comments within 90 days or the projects will be automatically approved by the independent body,which will also be paid by the ministry for considering the project.
       The ministry can claim the fee paid to the independent body from the project developers and can disqualify organisations which give "biased and unbalanced opinions".
       Mr Srisuwan said the fact that the independent organisation must register with the ministry means the body was not free to act.
       "The draft law has been made behind closed doors and without public participation," he said.
       Lawyer Surachai Trong-ngam, of Enlaw, a non-governmental organisation which specialises in environmental laws,said legal experts and the civil movement have jointly drafted a law on the establishment of the independent organisation on environment and submitted it to the ministry.
       Mr Surachai said the government should bring that draft law into effect.
       Unlike the government's draft amendment, the people-initiated law change guarantees the autonomy and freedom of the independent body, he said.