7 Map Ta Phut projects resume
Court lets 6 SCG and 1 PTT project continue
Bangkok Post 25 Feb 10;
The Central Administrative Court yesterday announced that seven suspended projects in the Map Ta Phut industrial zone can resume construction.
Six of the approved projects belong to Siam Cement Group, one to PTT.
The projects are among 64 industrial projects worth hundreds of billions of baht that were ordered suspended by the court last December.
The court found that state agencies had failed to abide by requirements under the 2007 Constitution requiring environmental and health impact assessments and independent reviews for major industrial projects.
The PTT Group, which had 18 projects suspended in the area, will now be allowed to resume construction at its $130 million Bisphenol-A project. The project is run by PTT Phenol, a venture 40% held by PTT and the rest by PTT subsidiaries, PTT Aromatics and Refinery (PTTAR) and PTT Chemical.
Chainoi Puankosoom, president and chief executive of PTTAR, welcomed the court's decision.
"Project construction was nearly completed [before the suspension]," Mr Chainoi said.
"With the court's order, we will accelerate the construction process and begin testing."
But Mr Chainoi said the seven projects approved to resume work may only complete construction and begin testing. It remains uncertain whether they will be allowed to start commercial operations.
According to a statement released by the Administrative Court, the seven projects will still have to secure the necessary regulatory approvals before production can begin.
This suggests that it may be several months before actual operations can start.
A committee led by former premier Anand Panyarachun expects to complete a framework on how new projects can meet constitutional requirements within the next several months.
The Industry Ministry submitted the appeal for the PTT Phenol project to resume operations. PTT last Friday also submitted petitions seeking to start commercial operations for six other group projects at Map Tha Phut.
The six Siam Cement projects allowed to resume construction include projects run by subsidiaries Map Tha Phut Tank Terminal and Thai Polyethylene; Siam Polyethylene and Siam Synthetic Latex, two joint ventures between SCG and Dow Chemicals; and a project run by Thai MMA, a 50/50 venture between SCG and Mitsui Chemicals.
"We have to thank the court for its mercy and for allowing us to continue these projects" said Venus Asavasitthithavorn, SCG corporate communication director.
"We also must thank the public and the communities themselves for their understanding and for the chance to proceed with our plans.
"SCG promises that we will take care of the environment and the communities continuously and forever ... The verdict shows that industries can live together with communities in a sustainable manner."
The Map Tha Phut impasse has been a major issue weighing down investor sentiment, with local and foreign businesses expressing concern about new regulatory and policy risk in the wake of the court's decision.
Pichai Lertsupongkit, a senior vice-president of Thanachart Securities, said the court decision yesterday would be well-received by the market, even though in financial terms the actual impact was relatively small.
"The market expects that there will be other projects given permission to proceed going forward," he said.
"It should help boost investor sentiment as well as share valuations for the companies involved."
Shares of SCC closed on the SET yesterday at 220 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 166 million baht. PTT closed at 231 baht, down two satang, in trade worth 1.8 billion baht.
