A committee on marine and coastal resources policy on Monday approved the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources' environmental checklist for seawall and revetment construction to combat marine coastal erosion.
The nine-year delayed environmental checklist for seawalls and revetment will be attached to the ministerial regulation amending article 21 of the Marine and Coastal Resources Management Act BE 2558 after the amended version is complete.
Sophon Thongdee, chief of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, explained that the environmental checklist had been revised at least twice before getting earning agreement from related agencies, including the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Transportation.
"We will try it best to implement it as soon as possible, as it means any seawall and revetment construction project to stop marine coastal erosion must get an approval from the department," Mr Sophon said, adding that the department is going to establish a permanent body to oversee the checklist.
According to the Beach for Life group, from 2013-2020 there were 74 projects with a length of 34 kilometres with a total budget of 6.9 billion baht. Meanwhile, the department's information showed that 65 projects have been completed while a further 17 have been put forward for consideration.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said that the government is trying to find a balance between economic development and natural resources conservation in a sustainable way, in which all measures are implemented based on stakeholder cooperation.
He also said the committee overseeing marine and coastal resources had given four marine resource sites protected status under article 21, namely Lamklad and Koh Mak in Trat, Koh Prit in Chanthaburi, and Koh Sai in Prachuap Khiri Khan.