Page 10 - CHIA-ตือโละปาตานี

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forced to leave their abodes.” These words belong to Sanusi Sarae, a local
fisherman in Teluk Patani who lives in the proposed project area. His view is shared
by many others facing the same plight.
The resolve of the EHIA Expert Review Committee on 17 August 2017 has
caused a collective suffering of the community peoples. But it did not take long for
suffering to be transformed into power and inspiration for those who chose not to
surrender or become the victims of development. They started the process to
review the EHIA report in detail, especially the parts that would have an impact
on the communities.
7. The Community Health Impact Assessment (CHIA)
Process
The Community Health Impact Assessment (CHIA) is part of the Health
Impact Assessment (HIA) process according to an announcement made by the
National Health Commission. It focuses on enabling communities to gather
information related to the possible impacts and support their negotiation in the
decision-making process. This will lead to development that is good for communities
and resonate with the principles of sustainable development. It is a six-step process
that involves: 1) identifying the community values, 2) understanding the impact of
the project on the communities, 3) understanding the community’s rights and
participation in the public policy-making process, 4) impact assessment, 5) moving
to the decision-making process, and 6) monitoring and evaluation.
7.1 Using the community map to identify values and community
impact scenarios.
The community people started by drawing the community map to identify the
intrinsic values of Teluk Patani i.e. ecology, the way of life, culture and use of
resources. It was evident that the range of people that will be potentially affected
by the Thepha Coal-Fired Power Plant project extends far beyond the communities
in the immediate vicinity of 5-kilometre radius from the plant site.
The project will have far-reaching implications for the lives of the people who
rely upon Teluk Patani for their livelihoods. For example, Teluk Patani is an important
fishing ground for local fishermen in the deep South, and a hub for the fisheries-
related local economy. The boats run in the bay, from Songkhla to Laem Tachie,
Pattani and beyond. Any ecological changes in this area causing depletion of
marine resources will not only affect the fishermen but also those making a living
out of fishing-related businesses. These include the shipyards, the boat builders
and painters, sellers of fishing gears, fish markets, vendors and shopkeepers, ice
houses and shops, tea shops, seafood processing plants and lastly consumers.
All these actors lie interconnected in the same value chain and economic system
as documented in the first paper called “Teluk Patani Darussalam, Land of Peace”.
7.2 The EHIA report review process and risk mapping
The review process of the Environmental and Health Impact Assessment
(EHIA) report was started with an attempt to understand the structure of the report
from chapter 1 to 7. The community people were then divided into different reading
groups based on their interest, e.g. project site selection and site conditions, types
of power plant projects (types of coal, transportation, chemicals, water usage,
pollution management, etc.) marine ecosystem, beaches, mangrove forests, moving
of households, agriculture, and community participation. They would then verify if
the information put in the report was correct following which a “risk map” was drawn
using the Teluk Patani community map superimposed by the coal-fired power plant
project plan layout.
The exercise revealed the positional plotting of key functional structures like
the bridges for the transportation of coal, pumping pipes, sewers, coal storage
buildings, ash ponds, drainages and how these structures would affect the existing
natural formations like coral reef ranges and fishing equipment of locals. The risk
mapping suggested that the long-established fishing grounds for seabass, shellfish
and krill will be disturbed by big pumping pipes that draw seawater as a coolant.
The community people also undertook surveys of canals in the mangrove forests
to look at points where the used water will be released through the Tu Yong canal.
They found that the waterway connects to Pattani through a network of mangrove
forests used by people in the past to commute. It is now used for local fishing and
therefore houses fishing gears.
7.3 The anticipation of the project’s impact on the communities
The community people carried out impact assessment by themselves and
applied the framework and indicators used by the consultant company.
The risk map enabled the local people to conclude on their concerns about
the project’s impact in three key points: 1) displacement of community people, 2)
impact on fishing and 3) impact on agriculture, e.g. local rice varieties, watermelon,
mixed farming.
As a result of this assessment, the communities anticipate that the proposed
Thepha Coal-Fired Power Plant will adversely impact the communities at the
highest level and in all aspects, as follows:
1) Change in the population structure
This will be caused by the influx of 3,500 workers. Such a sudden increase
of new faces in numbers greater than the people living in the Moo 4 area (project
site) will exert a high impact on the prevalent social structure. There are risks for
communicable diseases and new patterns of illnesses. Additionally, the introduction
of families of the migrants may bring in problems like infectious diseases, drug
addiction and crimes.