A judge at the Central Administrative Court supports an injunction to the Bt350 billion water-management plan, as asked by the Stop Global Warming Association.
Reading her opinion today, Judge Wassana Maneetong said that the project should be suspended until proper public hearing is completed before the government signs contracts with contractors.
This is in line with the Constitution’s Section 67 (2), which requires environment impact assessment (EIA) and health impact assessment (HIA) for projects which could affect the environment and communities.
The Administrative Court will give the official ruling on the injunction petition on June 27. If it stands by the judge’s opinion, the project would be delayed by at least six months. The government has already selected financiers for the project, with expectation that the first disbursement will start in the last quarter of this year.
Srisuwan Janya, president of the association, is convinced that the Administrative Court’s ruling on Thursday would not differ from this.
"Normally, the EIA and HIA process takes about 2 years. This should require a similar period of time," he said.