Cheewin Satha - Chiang Mai
The government and the private
sector will join hands in allocating one billion baht for the
controversial night safari project in Chiang Mai,
director-general of the Forestry Department Plodprasop Suraswadi
said yesterday.
The government would set aside 600 million baht and the rest
would come from private firms to benefit the project, he said.
The department chief shrugged off calls for a public forum on
the park project.
Mr Plodprasop, who chairs the government's panel studying the
project, said there was no need for public participation because
the project would not affect people and the environment.
His remarks follow calls by 25 environmental organisations and
academics for the government to include the public in the
planning.
They say the project will allow only a small group of private
firms to make use of vast public land.
Mr Plodprasop said no communities existed inside the earmarked
site, and the park was not an industrial factory.
The proposed establishment of a night safari park has received
strong support from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who wants
the project to boost tourism for his home province.
The committee has hired an expert group led by Bernard Harrison,
chief executive of the Night Safari Wildlife Park in Singapore,
to conduct a feasibility study.
Under the plan, about 2,200 rai of Doi Suthep-Pui National Park
in the city and neighbouring Hang Dong district will be
earmarked for the project.
The area will be divided into two zones _ a day zoo covering
1,429 rai and a night zoo covering 824 rai.
Chalardchai Ramitanond, representing the 25 environmental
organisations, said the safari park would cause a water shortage
for nearby communities because it had to pump water from there
for consumption.
