Junta green push runs its course

Parliament can make a small but significant step towards improving local environments and the health of local communities if it puts to bed a longstanding junta executive decree originally designed to attract investment in ailing sectors.

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The order is National Council for Peace and Order 4/2559, issued on Jan 20, 2016 by the junta government under Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. This order was pushed with the intention of promoting renewable energy and waste recycling businesses.

MPs in the Lower House on Wednesday voted 437 in favour, with one vote against and one abstention, to revoke the order after many complaints from local communities affected by pollution.

The slim minority came from Pheu Thai Party lawmakers who were asking for another two years to deal with a backlog of applications from investors.

The 4/2559 order is one among more than 550 junta executive decrees and orders that the Gen Prayut administration issued to advance its national security, social and economic policies.

After the end of the Gen Prayut administration, lawmakers gradually began scrapping them, as many of the orders bypassed legal frameworks to give power to officials to fast-track national security and investment policies.

Under the 4/2559 order, all town planning and land-use regulations nationwide were lifted to pave the way for energy projects such as natural gas and biogas, renewable energy, and garbage treatment projects including landfills and recycling plants.