17 May 2002

ANALYSIS / ENVIRONMENT

`Better late than never'' _ will this expression in the end suit the campaign by environmentalists to stop the clearing of reefs along the Mekong river?

The governments of Thailand, China, Burma and Laos might well have believed that everything was going along swimmingly before work was to begin on the approaches to Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. But that was when protesters suddenly awoke from their slumbers and decided to put up a fight against the project.

Can they possibly succeed after having got off to such a late start? Their campaign began only on May 5, almost a year too late as far as the scheme's time-line goes.

The four countries' transport ministers or their deputies gathered in Jinghong in southern China last June to sign an agreement on commercial navigation. They agreed there to widen the navigable stream of the Mekong step by step so vessels of up to 500 tonnes capacity could ply smoothly up and down a 540km section from Simao, a Chinese port in Yunnan, to Luang Prabang, the former capital of Laos.

The Thai cabinet approved the reef-blasting on Jan 30, almost without a murmur from activists, or any sign of interest from the media.

The four governments were quietly satisfied to have the issue maintain a low profile so that work could go ahead without any hindrance from protesters. The reefs in the middle of the river where it passes through China and is known as the Lancang and those obstructing navigation between Burma and Laos have already been removed.

It is really not surprising that this matter did not excite the interest of environmentalists. They were occupied with other matters considered more urgent and energy-demanding: stopping the building of the coal-fired power plants at Hin Krut and Bo Nok in Prachuap Khiri Khan and the gas pipeline through Songkhla that is part of the Thai-Malaysian programme to bring natural gas beneath the Gulf of Thailand to factories in the two countries.

The battle by non-governmental organisations seems to be endless now that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has indicated he plans to delay or scrap the two power plants but go ahead with the pipeline, by rerouting it 5km to the north of its original course in Songkhla's Chana district.

Even without these projects, opponents of the four-nation plan had difficulty waging a Mekong campaign. Unlike the projects in Prachuap Khiri Khan and Songkhla, information about the reef-clearing operation was hard to come by.

``We had difficulties getting information,'' said Chinarong Sretthachau, director of the Southeast Asia Rivers Networks, the non-governmental organisation based in Chiang Mai spearheading the protests.

The environmentalists seem not to be swayed by the promise from the four countries' agencies that they will be sensitive to the ecological impact. The project is driven by ``market forces'' in full awareness of the impact on the environment, said Liu Jinsong, director of the Political and Press Section at the Chinese embassy in Thailand. The environmentalists have no concrete evidence to counter such claims but, according to Mr Chainarong: ``We are working on it.''

The international nature of the project poses a huge hurdle to protesters. And they cannot count on the support of like-minded individuals in the other three countries as Beijing, Rangoon and Vientiane all frown on activities involving NGOs other than those with whom they have official links.

The Thai environmentalists seem destined to a lone crusade unless they can arouse these Chinese, Lao and Burmese counterparts to help them get their message across to the world. But the money being made available by the Chinese government for the reef clearance _ partly to show its three partners it does not wish to burden them with the costs _ will prove a deterrence to pressure to resist the project.

This leaves those in Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong districts who rely on the river as a life source as potentially the most powerful force in stopping the project. Their support could be vital to environmentalists trying to place the issue on the national agenda.

That is time-consuming work but at least time is on their side _ thanks to Mother Nature.

The early arrival of the monsoon season this year gives the environmentalists more time to manoeuvre because, as the Chinese diplomat pointed out, work cannot go ahead to clear reefs along the water course between Thailand and Laos while the rains swell the river.