Delayed ruling only first judicial step in Klong Dan saga

His failure to appear at Wednesday's Supreme Court hearing is more or less considered by the public as his having fled the scene. What is he running away from? Does he detect something in the air with the impending court ruling?

If so, it will be the first public victory in the decade-long Klong Dan scandal, and those who have been following the saga might feel some satisfaction.

It is rare in Thai society to see a politician involved in corruption in a mega-project - especially when the accusations are related to land ownership issues - proven guilty, largely due to legal and bureaucratic limitations. This time, however, events might represent a refreshing change.

Even though the ruling to be announced on August 18 may be that Vatana is guilty and must pay a penalty, it could become a real victory for the public over the Klong Dan scheme. In fact, this is just a very early step in this long journey, even though it has taken more than 10 years to get this far.

Vatana's case is just a part of the corruption allegations that have been made. Apart from graft, there are two other issues - pollution and public participation - that need to be looked at.

In the area of corruption, apart from Vatana, at least 18 other defendants, who also need to be kept in focus, are involved in this case. The corruption allegations so far involve only land ownership and purchasing issues.

There are also other corruption-related matters that have cost the public benefit dearly, including at least seven issues:

-- The selection process for the companies involved in the project's construction and operation, including the incredible increase in the project's budget from Bt13.6 billion to Bt23.7 billion as well as the change of site 

-- Conflicts of interest amongst those mixed up in the project's approval and construction and its consultants

-- The questionable use of the land for the project

-- Public participation and the impact on communities

-- Illegal practices involving the approval of its environmental impact assessment

-- Improper site selection that caused many undesirable consequences, and

-- The sources of financial support

All issues are known by academics as "structural" corruption, which is much more complicated and involves not only politicians like Vatana and 18 key businessmen in this case. They involve former ministers, senior officials at the Pollution Control Department (PCD), local politicians and businesses, all of whom have come under the cloud of this project.

We have to admit that pollution-control projects such as this are urgently needed for both today's problems and any future pollution crisis in the area, even though many people have already felt uncomfortable about this particular pollution-control project.

Samut Prakan is a province with one of the biggest pollution problems in the country due to its long exploitation as an industrial zone and its growing population as a town on the outskirts of Bangkok. It is home to more than 5,200 factories with the release of over 100,000 cubic metres of water per day, as well as toxic waste and air pollution.

Considering wastewater alone, even though a huge amount of polluted liquid is released, it does not mean we have to use huge facilities to tackle the problem. The size of the facility is one matter leading to problems like damage to communities and the environment, plus the project's cost.

What is the most appropriate project size? Who will decide?

This explains why we need public participation with transparency. If the PCD, the project's owner, had been open to public participation in the past decade, we might not be sitting in hot water today.

Back to the present situation. While this Bt23-billion project is already 98 per cent technically completed, decisions are urgently needed about further technical burdens, either from increasing amounts of polluted water or the incomplete plant itself.

The establishment of a national committee to seek solutions for the Klong Dan plant was one good idea, but so far we have seen too little come out of this committee except the setting up of three subcommittees on legal, social and technical issues.

While Vatana's case might need fewer political implications, this committee's work requires a lot more political will and support to make this huge investment return some proper yield despite its tainted history.