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DAM-L THE NATION: "Hearing to stress unity" (fwd)
FROM:
The Nation, Aug 11, 2000
"Hearing to stress unity"
NO banners, symbols of affiliation or distribution of
documents will be allowed at the public hearing co-
organised by the government and the Assembly of the
Poor (AOP), scheduled for next Thursday, Thammasat
University lecturer Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said
yesterday.
Somchai, who is acting as the mediator between the
two parties, said the ban was necessary to eradicate
the feelings of division among the participants.
"The public hearing is not a confrontation. It's a time
when both parties turn to each other with the aim of
reaching understanding," he said.
Speaking after a meeting to draw up the public
hearing's framework, Somchai also disclosed that
both parties had agreed on Senator Chirmsak
Pinthong, Thepchai Yong and Chaiwat Satha-anan as
potential moderators.
"The moderator has limited duties. He is not
expected to make any conclusions but only to monitor
the time of each representative's presentation,"
Somchai said.
Chirmsak, however, has declined to act as moderator
at the public hearing, citing the limited role, while
both Thepchai and Chaiwat said they could not
perform the task because they had prior
engagements.
The three issues of forestland encroachment, dams,
and land grievances will be discussed at the hearing.
Representatives from both parties will be given a
brief amount of time to speak. After their
presentations, there will be a question-and-answer
session.
Somchai also said as Thammasat's Small Auditorium,
the public hearing venue, could accommodate only
800 people, AOP was limited to taking 200 of its
members inside. The remaining seats will be reserved
for the public.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob and Royal
Forestry Department (RFD) director-general
Plodprasop Suraswadi will give a presentation on the
problem of AOP members allegedly encroaching on
national forestland, said PM's personal secretary
Alongkorn Polabutr.
PM's Office Minister Savit Bodhivihok and Deputy
Science Minister Pornthep Tejapaibul will speak on
the ongoing dam issues, while Deputy Interior
Minister Vattana Asavahame and Land Department
director-general Vichien Ratanabirabongse will discuss
land grievances, Alongkorn said.
Alongkorn said he, government spokesman Akapol
Sorasuchart and deputy prime minister's secretary-
general Amnuay Patise will be responsible for the
question-and-answer session.
In a separate development, AOP advisor Laotai
Nilnual said aides to the RFD's Plodprasop had
threatened him and his associate throughout the
production of a television programme to which Laotai
and Plodprasop had been invited to discuss the land
controversy.
"They bawled us out and acted as if they were going
to take weapons out," Laotai said, adding he was
considering filing a complaint with police.
Laotai said the threat might have resulted from the
fact that he played up the inequality in land
possession for the poor and the rich during the
programme, citing as an example the "Rai Suraswadi"
land plot owned by Plodprasop's brother which
contains a river source.
Laotai said poor people would never have been
allowed to possess a plot of land with a river source.
fwd from SEARIN