4.4.3. Achievement of social agreement
The new system seeks to overcome the limitations of EIA and
reduce social tensions surrounding development projects (Song,
2006a). It should be implemented in close relationship with the EIA.
One of the reasons for conflict between conservation and development
in the process of EIA was that there was no process of public
consultation at the strategic level. By providing an opportunity for
stakeholders to participate at the strategic level, public consultation
included in the newPERS system is expected to help resolve conflicts at
the early stages of the project. In addition, the PERS committee, consisting
of residents, experts, NGOs and other authorities, will be able to ensure the quality, objectivity, and credibility of the PERS reports by
providing their expertise at an early stage and therefore offsetting
criticisms regarding the credibility of environmental assessment.