Bangkok Apartments
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source: Bkk Post May 5 2008 The sharp rise in developments seeking EIA approval has increased the workload at the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning. In the past, the ONEP received between 200 and 300 EIA reports for approval each year. But currently it has 1,400 reports on its table, up from 500 at the end of last year, says secretary-general Kasemsun Chinnavaso. ''Given the increasing number of projects, I really sympathise with the seven officials working for this division who are responsible for the initial revisions of the reports,'' he says. The workload has been even heavier lately because two of his staff are on maternity leave. ''We have to work without holidays, spending so much time reading reports that are around 400 pages. The number of jobs has increased but we can't add more staff. And we can't outsource the work because there are no related laws supporting such activity.'' The expert reviewers also work hard. Currently there are 11 committees with experts from different agencies, who have to review reports for at least 3,000 projects a year. Only two of the committees are responsible for residential and serviced property projects. ''The number of meetings has also increased from once a month to every week _ otherwise the 1,400 projects might not finish,'' says Mr Kasemsun. It's been suggested that developers might take the EIA process more seriously if they had to pay into an environmental fund. One proposal involved a fee of 0.5% of the project value. This money could be used to correct environmental problems or cover related liabilities. Mr Kasemsun disagrees, saying it would be hard to establish and administer. It's also not clear what would happen to the funds, and whether all the money should be returned to a developer after each project completes construction. Some officials proposed a special fund after a recent incident in which a concrete block fell at a construction site and injured passers-by. ''Instead, I proposed additional insurance coverage, which project owners normally have, for third parties,'' he says.             |
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