Wind farm operators, whose land leases in Nakhon Ratchasima are subject to review following a court ruling on the misuse of land primarily allocated for farmers, are being cast in a positive light with local officials saying their yearly rents, worth more than 10 million baht, go back to farmers and landless people.
The benefits were revealed yesterday by the Agricultural Land Reform Office's (Alro) Nakhon Ratchasima branch which is in the throes of a legal complication after the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that an approval, granted by the Chaiyaphum land reform committee, to lease a plot of land to Thep Sathit Wind Farm Co was unlawful and ordered it revoked on Tuesday.
Though the firm's operations on 39 rai of land converts wind into electricity, which benefits the public, according to the ruling, the use of land, known as Sor Por Kor land which is overseen by Alro, must be in line with its original purpose which is aimed at helping farmers acquire land for farming.
The court's ruling, which states that generating electricity does not provide direct benefits to farmers, prompted Alro to reconsider its several hundred rai of Sor Por Kor land lease contracts which it signed with companies in Chaiyaphum and Nakhon Ratchasima.
Alro should consider that the 10-million-baht rent money which normally goes to the Agricultural Land Reform Fund, would become a loan source for farmers or be used to purchase new land plots for redistribution to landless people, said Chamnan Klinchan, an official of Alro's Nakhon Ratchasima branch.
Officials can also consider spending part of the money developing facilities on Sor Por Kor land, he said, adding he already informed Alro's head office.
Alro secretary-general Sompong Inthong said earlier that any contracts on Sor Por Kor land use made with a total of 19 companies in the two provinces must be amended if they are found to have breached the court's ruling.