People worried about water pollution: poll

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ENVIRONMENT

People worried about water pollution: poll
By The Nation
2011-03-22

Transparency and information sought from industries to mitigate problem

People living near industrial factories are concerned about the toxic contamination of water sources as the government has failed to prevent this problem, Greenpeace Southeast Asia revealed yesterday.

The agency's co-coordinator for the anti-toxic campaign, Plai Pirom, said that to mark World Water Day today, Greenpeace Southeast Asia and Abac Poll had conducted a survey about water pollution on 1,550 people living in Bangkok and around Ayutthaya's Bang Pa-in Industrial Estate and Samut Prakan's Bang Phli and Bang Chan industrial estates. The study found that 80.2 per cent of those polled wanted a law requiring factories to publicise information about their environmental pollutants - the type and amount - as part of the measure to reduce water pollution created by industrial activities, he said.

About 79 per cent thought factories should use harmless and environmentally friendly materials. Eighty-four per cent of the respondents said water pollution was a key environmental issue that urgently needed action. They believe that concerned state agencies' works had failed to protect water sources from pollution.

"The survey shows that Thais want to see the government take serious action to tackle pollution created by the industrial sector, which poses a great threat to the country's water sources," he said.

"Transparent management and disclosure of information are the ways to solve pollution issues in the long term. The public and industrial sectors must realise the public's right to know about harmful substances that are used and released during the manufacturing process. The law requiring factories to disclose such information for public access and checking must be passed and implemented urgently," he said.

Biggest worries
He warned that transparency was needed in such information disclosure, especially regarding dangerous substances, to prevent future dangers.

Plai said the survey also found five things that most bothered people:

_ 91.5 per cent - Water shortage stemming from water pollution and the effects of global warming

_ 90.3 per cent - Polluted canals and rivers

_ 89.94 per cent - Dumping of garbage into waterways

_ 84.5 per cent - The impact on health from water pollution

_ 84.1 per cent - Toxic contamination in the food chain or environment.

He said more than half to three-quarters of the respondents were worried about the pollution of the four main rivers in the Central Region - Chao Phraya (74.5 per cent), Bang Prakong (58 per cent), Mae Khlong (52.2 per cent) and Tha Chin (52 per cent).

He said water quality in Thailand had deteriorated in the past decades; the lower Chao Phraya River's linking canals were found to have dangerous toxicity, which showed that the government was not doing enough to protect water sources.