Environment group’s misguided blocking of K-Water bid for Thai project

In an interview with the Thai Post newspaper of Thailand, Eom Hyeong-cheol, secretary general of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, the nation’s leading environmental civic group, said, “K-Water only has capacity to conduct small scale projects, and lacks the capacity to construct drain canals or emergency water storage facilities,” in downplaying the state-run firm’s capability to execute projects. K-Water is engaged in intense competition with foreign firms to secure Thailand’s water management project. Straying from its main mandate, the civic group has committed an act that runs counter to national interest, jeopardizing the company’s bid to win the project worth 6 trillion won (5.27 billion dollars).

K-Water conducted large-scale projects, including the construction of multi-purpose dams such as Soyanggang Dam, and new urban development projects known as New Town. It also successively carried out water-related projects in China, India and Vietnam. Despite this, the federation claimed that k-Water lacks capacity to conduct small-scale drain canal, an accusation that does not comply with the fact in the first place. Eom claimed that K-Water saw its debt ratio soar to 700 percent, but the company currently manages a debt ratio at 122.8 percent. He also raised suspicion over a “under the table deal,” saying “The Korean government might have offered (the Thai government) a separate agreement or agreed to provide special conditions (to win the project).” It speculates that K-Water would seek to acquire the project through an illicit way by forging a behind-the-scene deal with the Thai government. These are groundless accusations and criticism against K-Water and Korean builders that are striving to win the project. .

Due to Eom’s remarks, K-Water is facing difficulties trying to secure the project in the face of a flurry of requests to confirm‍ facts by the Thai government and media. Early this month, the Korean consortium comprising K-Water and five builders was picked a preferential negotiating partner in the category of drain canals and drain water storages of the nine water management projects offered by Thailand, and is close to signing a final agreement.

There is no justification whatsoever for the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement to block Korean water management contractors from advancing into overseas markets, after staging a campaign against the Four-River Restoration Project in Korea during the Lee Myung-bak administration. Thailand had 81 people killed, and 113,000 flood victims, and incurred damage worth a combined total of 54 trillion won (47.3 billion dollars), including 800,000 homes destroyed, due to massive floods that hit the country from April to September 2011. The Thai government plans to invest a total of 12.4 trillion won (10.9 billion dollars) through 2016, and conduct projects to construct reservoirs (dams), drain canals, flood control water storages, and reinforce river banks. In what way submitting a bid to such water management projects constitute damaging the environment?

Eom said, “National interest is important but environment is a transnational issue,” which is sophistry at best. The federation and Eom should reflect why today’s environmental movement is being boycotted by the public.