Despite the emergence of Dawei Special Economic Zone will help encourage geopolitical and economic sectors of that region, social and environmental measures should be taken seriously due to the construction of petrol chemical plants in the project, according to the environmentalists.
“Some environmentalists prefer pristine ecosystem to the construction projects such as deep sea ports and railways. However, it should be understood that the cancellation of these projects would result some problems of international relations and other sectors as the new government is carrying out development programs. Serious criticism of environmentalists will cause difficulties for businesspersons. Their negligence on environmental issue will turn out some losses. Therefore, the business expansion and the environmental conservation should be balanced while other capacities are promoting. If not so, some negative impacts are possible to come out in that area,” said an environmentalist.
Some experts remark that regional development planning should be carried out systematically.
“Thai court decided environmentalists are the winners in the lawsuit of Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate. As the constructions of chemical plants in this project were cancelled, the project will be shifted into Myanmar. These factories would discharge lead, mercury and cadmium. Coal-fired factories will also produce sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. These polluted chemicals and heavy metals will endanger the environment. Construction of deep seaport project alone will not cause serious problem. It can be controlled. The design of barrier reefs is important for this project. They should be created after the situations of tide current have been observed. Italian-Thai Development Public Co., Ltd is a skillful group in this sector. However, they should consider about the consequences of possible changes of current and reversal of tidal current. Moreover, they should carefully choose waterway for vessels. If they cannot do it, accident of crude oil vessels are possibly happen due to various reasons. Then the pristine ecosystem of Myeik Archipelago would be stained. Therefore, enough buffer space and contingency plans should be
made to tackle traffic of vessels in this maritime area,” said Managing Director U Win Myo Thu of Eco Dev.
Feasibility study should be carried out on possible environmental impacts at the related area. As environmental law will be enacted soon, regulation alone is not enough for the management of this sector.
“The shifting of the petro chemical plants was discussed by the former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit at the Parliament. We must welcome the implementation of the Special Economic Zone as it will bring prosperity in our country. However, there will be social and environmental large impacts in our country. In fact, we should not protest this project in the aspect of environmental conservation. We should try to reduce negative results as much as possible. The most critical problem to this project is the lack of priority over regional planning.”
“The lesson we should take from the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate is that occurrence of air and water pollution in the area. A professor of the Kasetsart University pointed out it. Actually, he is an economist. He unveiled his view that the environmentalists did not imagine. He also suggested that the factories in their country observe industrial standards such as the temperatures of discharged water, their BOD and COD. There are also limitations of air pollution such as the amount of DSPN and nitric acid. Although each factory observes the norms, the wastes of all the factories exceeded the pollution limit. So he recommended making the plans of carrying capacity.
“For example, feasibility study should be carried out on environmental impacts in that region. Every resource has their limitation. After studying these facts, the type of factory and the amount of production should be decided. Regulation is not enough for this project. The qualities of water and air could be standardized only with the new environmental law. Therefore, some experts are of the view that regulation should be laid down after making the plans of ‘carrying capacity’ of biological species in the environment. Moreover, buffer zones are possible to disappear due to the expansion of factories with the development of economy in this area. The needs of freshwater sources and inhabitants should be considered for next three to four generations. Therefore, space management is also important for the places of workers, reforestation for deforestation and garbage discharge system. As discharged rubbishes would be chemical wastes, water treatment system should be set up. Water treatment system has of two types—chemically and biologically. As the cost for the first type is very high, most of the businesspersons cannot afford it. The second type need much space as it requires step-by-step treatment system. Air pollution problem must also be considered. Fumes from funnels of factories will pollute the environment. There is only industrial design, not regional planning, in this project. Therefore, it is essential to design other pollution control system in this project,” said an environmentalist.
