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| August 5, 2000 | atimes.com | ||
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Southeast Asia
Thai-Malaysian mega-project stalled By Kamonwan Limthongkul The fate of the US$2.42 billion natural gas pipeline project between Malaysia and Thailand hangs in the balance pending a public hearing into its acceptability to the people of the southern Thai province of Songkhla, through which it is penciled to run. The first attempt to stage a hearing, on July 29 in Had Yai, the provincial capital, was called off after organizers feared violence between supporters and opponents of the project. No date has been set for a new hearing, which is required under the Thai Constitution for large industrial development schemes. The Trans Thai-Malaysia (TTM) gas pipeline project involves building a 255 kilometer offshore pipeline to pump natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand to Thailand, and then on to Malaysia, and the construction of a gas separation plant. The countries, through their respective state oil agencies - the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) - have agreed to buy the gas on a 50:50 basis. Gas was scheduled to start running in 2002, but that date is unlikely now as building cannot proceed without a public hearing, and its outcome assessed by the Thailand Office of Environmental Policy and Planning, which is under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment. The Democrat-led government of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has indicated an unwillingness to force the issue. The Democrats draw the bulk of their support from the south, and with elections due in November this year, they are mindful of not upsetting voters there by taking sides. Opponents of the pipeline claim it will cause severe environmental and social damage, and they are resisting government plans to industrialize the largely agricultural and fishing region. The PTT has indicated that should the hearing reject the project in its present form, an alternative could be to pipe the gas to the existing Erawan field in the Gulf of Thailand, and then move it on to facilities on the Eastern Seaboard for distribution to the central provinces. Alternatively, they say if agreement cannot be reached, the project will be scrapped. Should this happen it would deal a severe blow to the proposed industrialization of the southern Thai provinces. It would also affect the development of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle, as well as plans of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to implement an Asean-wide gas pipeline grid. (Special to Asia Times Online) |
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