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BKK POST: January 30, 1998: GAS P



BKK POST: January 30, 1998:   GAS PIPELINE PROJECT

              Wild elephants
              seen near route

              Conservationists oppose tree cutting

              Kanittha Inchukul and Chakrit Ridmontri

              Three herds of about 50 wild elephants were spotted along the
              gas pipeline route which runs through lush forest in
              Kanchanaburi's Thong Pha Phum district, conservation groups
              said yesterday.

              Following an incident in which a stray wild elephant fell into a pit
              near the pipeline route early this month, the groups conducted an
              elephant population survey and found that as many as 50
              elephants inhabited the area.

              They said the elephants were scattered between the pipeline
              kilometre 18 to 28 because the area was covered with elephant
              food such as bamboo, bananas and wild mangoes.

              "As the pipeline laying workers are cutting trees along the section
              where the elephants live, so they are migrating near our camp,"
              said Nithisak Toniti of Wildlife Fund Thailand.

              The groups have staged a sit-in protest in the forest section of
              the pipeline since last month so as to blockade the Petroleum
              Authority of Thailand (PTT), agency in charge of the gas pipeline
              project, from cutting trees and clearing the forest to make the
              pipeline corridor in lush forest on Khao Ta Kua.

              The workers have stopped working near the camp at the
              pipeline kilometre 27.5, but they are laying the pipeline in haste in
              areas several kilometres from the groups' blockade.

              Hareuthai Khongkuan, a villager in Tambon Huey Pak Khok in
              Thong Pha Phum district, said pipeline laying work in the forest
              posed a serious threat to wild elephants as their habitat was
              under pressure from forest encroachment.

              "The pipeline route is the heart of the elephants' home. If the PTT
              insists on laying the pipeline through the area, we will soon see
              clashes between the elephants and construction workers," said
              Mr Hareuthai.

              The groups held a meeting among their members and academics
              yesterday after they successfully took pictures of a herd of about
              10 elephants at about 1.5 kilometres from the pipeline kilometre
              28 last Wednesday. The elephants, six adults and four calves,
              were eating bamboo leaves.

              Dr Kumthorn Thirakhupt, a biology lecturer at Chulalongkorn
              University, said the groups should pass on information about the
              elephants to the Office of Environmental Policy and Planning
              (OEPP).

              He said the office is authorised to order a review of the project's
              environmental impact assessment (EIA) study which had not
              commented on the existence of wild elephants along the pipeline
              route.

              Team Consulting Engineer Co is the consultant that conducted
              the EIA.

              "If the consultant firm intended to distort information about the
              elephant, it has to take responsibility," said Dr Kumthorn, adding
              that the groups' information had to be done in a scientific manner.

              He said the existence of elephants indicated that the project
              should be ceased temporarily so as to study more about the wild
              and find solutions for managing the environment.

              A senior official at the OEPP's environmental impact assessment
              division said the licence to conduct the EIA of the consultant
              could be revoked if the data was incompetent as it wanted the
              project to be approved by the National Environment Board
              (NEB).

              He agreed that the pipeline laying in the forest should be halted
              for reassessment of the environmental impact. The decision rests
              with the NEB which is chaired by the prime minister.

              Songkiert Tansamrit, director of PTT's public relations
              department, admitted that laying the pipeline in the forest would
              have an impact on elephants. However, he said the impact could
              be minimal without halting construction work.

              In so doing, he said, the pipeline laying must be done during the
              dry season as quickly as possible. 




                                     




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Last Modified: Fri, Jan 30, 1998