BOI stands firm on pollution
The Board of Investment (BOI) is ready to approve 12 new projects in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate once the companies agree to abide by new, more stringent controls on waste emissions and pay a proposed pollution charge.
The companies will be given tax breaks, such as for machinery import, in exchange for keeping pollution to a minimum. The BOI has already approved six projects, altogether worth about Bt60 billion to Bt70 billion, that have agreed to follow the new pollution standards. The stricter environmental regulations are being drawn up following deaths allegedly caused by pollution from oil refineries and heavy industries in the area. PTT and the Siam Cement Group, whose projects are among the 12 under consideration, have already pledged to reduce their waste emissions by 20 per cent. Industry Minister Piyabutr Cholvijarn said the ministry expected to collect about Bt80 million annually as pollution charges from the industries at Map Ta Phut, which would be used to regenerate communities in the area. The proposal to impose a pollution charge and tighter emission controls is being handled by the ministry's Industrial Works Department. Once the public and private sectors have agreed on an emissions-control formula, the issue will be passed on to the Ministry of Commerce, said Ratchada Singalavanija, the department's director-general. Once the new pollution regulations are passed into law, they will be enforced nationwide and the money collected as pollution charges will go directly to the treasury, he said.
Watcharapong Thongrung The Nation
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