Power plant hearing goes off smoothly

THE hearing on the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Songkhla’s Thepha district passed off without violence yesterday, although the opposition claimed that supporters who joined the public review were bribed.
Songkhla Governor Thamrong Chareonkul chaired the first day of the third public hearing on the Thepha power plant at Tambon Pak Bang Administrative Organisation. The venue was reportedly heavily guarded and there were claims the opposition group was kept away from the event.
Pol Kongsue, assistant governor generation 3 of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), said that in the next step after the hearing, the completed environmental and health impact assessment (EHIA) report would be forwarded to the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning for consideration before it is presented to the Cabinet.
“The public hearing today was conducted legitimately according to the EHIA procedures, so the Thepha coal-fired power plant is for the benefit of the local communities,” Pol said.
According to Egat, the Thepha plant will use high-quality coal from abroad for two 1,100-megawatt power generators. Egat claims that it has pulverised-coal combustion technology, which can reduce pollutant emissions.
On the first day, 12,000 registered attendees came to the forum, while it was reported that around 20,000 people had turned up to the event. It was estimated that more than 10,000 people would be joining on the second day of the public hearing today, which will review the opinion on seaport construction for coal transport.
Describing the scene, a reporter said a 5-kilometre radius of the compound was strictly guarded by some 1,600 police and soldiers, while within the forum there were around 700 civil defence volunteers and the village security team is providing security for both days of the hearing. The highway between Hat Yai city and Pattani province was also partly closed and patrolled by military transports.
On the opposition side, Kittipob Sutthisawang, leader of the Songkhla and Pattani People against Coal-Fired Power Plant Network, said he had led some 100 people who disagreed with the project to the event to raise their concerns but they were not allowed to attend the forum.
“The officers should not bar people who object to the project from attending the public hearing, especially the final hearing, which is very important. The last two public hearings were also done without local knowledge and participation,” Kittipob said.
On Sunday, the network submitted a petition to defer the public hearing but its pleas were ignored.
Yesterday, a receipt for a Bt500 payment for the cost of transport to the public-hearing forum was shared on social media. Opponents of the project claimed that it was a bribe for supporters to attend the event.
Somporn Chuai-Aree, a researcher at Prince of Songkla University who attended the public hearing, disclosed that he was not sure about this payment but he noted that there were some attendees who came in a group and registered separately from the others.
“I have seen in the social media as well that there is a receipt for transport costs. I myself have not received one, but I don’t know what is inside the others’ bags,” Somporn said.
Wilawan Mudman, one of the organisers of the event, denied that any payments were made to the attendees.
Somporn described the event as peaceful, adding that 49 people shared their opinions at the forum.
“Everyone had five minutes to express their opinion, and most of them agreed with the project,” he said.
“I myself do not oppose the plan to build a new power plant but I want Egat to consider other sources of energy rather than coal,” he added.