ENVIRONMENT
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
Bang Saphan villagers have called on Prachuap Khiri Khan's town planning office to reject Sahaviriya Steel Group's proposal to turn 3,700 rai of land into an industrial zone. The company aims to pave the way for the expansion of its steel production empire, but the villagers will hold a mass rally and submit their petition to the provincial Public Works and Town & Country Planning office on Thursday.
The move came as the agency prepared to draw up revised town planning for the coastal district to replace the present plan, which will expire this week.
This is done every five years.
Under the existing town plan, 8,000 rai of the district has been designated a ''purple zone'' for industrial activities.
Supoj Songsiang, the leader of a local environmental group, said declaring the additional 3,700-rai land a purple zone will allow for the enlargement of the firm's steel industry.
The firm's existing steel plant had already caused a significant impact to the coastal and marine ecology and on local peoples' livelihoods, he said.
Mr Supoj also doubted the legality of the present town plan, saying that part of the purple zone, where Sahaviriya's steel plant is located, overlaps a forest reserve area.
The company should clarify this matter first before applying for a new industrial zone.
Mr Supoj said local residents had been affected by industrial activities, so they wanted the committee drafting the new town plan for Bang Saphan to turn some purple zones into green zones.
The company had chosen the wrong place to set up their steel factories from the beginning, he said, adding that the district should be preserved as environmental and residential areas.
Mr Supoj also urged the Forestry Department to speed up investigations into the firm's alleged encroachment of about 1,000 rai of protected forest area.
Conflicts between residents and the company erupted a few years ago when the steel group unveiled plans to build a 90-billion-baht smelting plant near its existing plant
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