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THE NATION: PTT decision makes a
- Subject: THE NATION: PTT decision makes a
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 00:05:00
Mailbag
PTT decision makes a
mockery of good govt
Unocal operated the offshore well that
produced the infamous 1969 Santa
Barbara oil spill. The enormous damage
caused became a rallying point for the
growing US environmental movement and
led to the establishment of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in
America in the early 1970s.
It is becoming evident that Unocal will also
play an important role in establishing
environmental standards in Thailand. The
panel chaired by the much respected
Anand Panyarachun concluded that PTT
was not ''transparent'', a much-needed
ingredient of good governance, in the
construction of the Unocal natural gas
pipeline. PTT failed to carry out a full and
complete environmental assessment study.
Permission for PTT to continue construction
without complying with Thailand's own
environmental laws makes a mockery of
''good government'' in Thailand.
Columbia like Burma is a major narcotics
producing country with rebel armies and
drug warlords. The major oil pipeline in
Columbia had been dynamited 474 times
during the past 11 years. Clearly there are
significant risks in trying to build and
operate a pipeline in the middle of a civil
war.
In time it will become clear that no
investment will be profitable until and unless
there is a political settlement in Burma.
Myint Thein
Dallas, Texas