20 May 2002

ENVIRONMENT

The Royal Irrigation Department is confident of resuming operations at Bang Pakong dam in August after environmental concerns have been addressed.

Kitcha Pholpasi, the agency's chief, said opening and closing times of the dam would be adjusted according to suggestions by the Office of Environmental Policy and Planning (OEPP).

``The dam gate will need to be opened and closed from time to time to allow sea water to flow into the Bang Pakong river,'' Mr Kitcha said.

The Bang Pakong dam was completed in 2000, but operations were suspended three months later after villagers complained it was causing pollution and erosion in the river.

OEPP studies discovered 13 points along the river were being eroded by surges of sea water.

Further assessments by the OEPP and the Royal Irrigation Department would be completed in August, when the results would be submitted for cabinet consideration, Mr Kitcha said.

According to Tawatchai Wanichakon from the Chachoengsao provincial health department, evaluation teams had visited the area, but had failed to detail how the dam's operations would be adapted to meet environmental concerns.

``We have not been told how much sea water will be let into the river, so it is impossible to gauge how things will improve,'' he said.

An OEPP source said seminars would be held to convey the results of the studies to villagers in the affected provinces of Nakhon Nayok, Chachoengsao, Chonburi, and Prachinburi.