Rally calls for action on Pak Mool Dam
More than 3,000 people rallied outside Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Hall yesterday to demand that the water level in Pak Mool River be maintained when the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) opens the dam's sluice gates next month.
Demonstrators complained yesterday that their livelihoods were destroyed when the sluice gates are opened. The issue has been controversial since the previous government, in response to pressure from the Assembly of the Poor, passed a Cabinet resolution requiring Egat to open the sluice gates between May 1 and August 31. The opening is intended to res-tore fishing as a livelihood for local villagers. But others oppose the move. "We have suffered from the opening of the sluice gates every year. We can't see the benefits at all," one of the demonstrators said yesterday. Samrerng Singkham, kamnan of Tambon Kham Kheun Kaew, led the rally. He said demonstrators came from three districts: Phibun Mangsahan, Khong Chiam and Sirindhorn. "Normally, local people in these three districts are able to collect giant fresh-water prawns to the sum of Bt170,000 a day. When the sluice gates open, they unable to catch them," Samrerng said. And opening of the dam gates left many areas short of water and local farms suffered badly, he said. Samrerng said the demonstrators wanted provincial authorities to ensure local people can use water from the dam year-round. They also urged the government to review the Cabinet resolution requiring the gates to be opened. General Surin Pikulthong, who oversees resources and the environment for the Council for National Security, and Deputy Ubon Ratchathani Governor Senee Jitkasem met with the demonstrators. Surin promised to raise the issue with the prime minister. "We will solve this problem before the incumbent government steps down from power," he said. The Nation Ubon Ratchathani
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