Govt orders action on cadmium saga
Wrongdoers to be reported to NED
The Industry Ministry has instructed the Samut Sakhon Provincial Industry Office to file complaints against anyone owning the cadmium tailings discovered in the province.
Minister Pimphattra Wichaikul yesterday directed the Provincial Industry Office to report individuals holding cadmium waste to the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NED).
The office also is calculating all the cadmium waste and arranging its return to Tak.
So far, 12,421 tonnes out of the 13,382 tonnes of cadmium tailings that were illegally moved from a landfill in Tak have been found.
Most of them, comprising 7,880 tonnes of tailings, were found in three factories in Samut Sakhon: J&B Metal Co (6,378 tonnes), Chin Hong Cheng Inter Tech (2008) Co (1,034 tonnes) in Muang district, and 468 tonnes at a warehouse in tambon Khlong Ma Duea of Krathum Baen district.
Another 4,391 tonnes were found at a warehouse in Chon Buri’s Ban Bung district, and the other 150 tonnes were found at LL0 Metal Co in Bangkok’s Bang Sue district.
Regarding the moving process, Ms Pimphattra said that the Department of Primary Industries and Mines (DPIM) went to disposal pits in Tak yesterday to check for their readiness before the burial on May 7.
Ms Pimphattra said the ministry also wanted to address the concerns of people that the transport of the cadmium waste from the warehouses to Tak in 30 trucks will not leak.
As for people in the destination area in Tak, especially in tambon Nong Bua Tai in Muang district, the ministry assigned the Department of Primary Industries and Mines to inspect the site of Bound and Beyond Plc to make sure there will not be any leaks of toxic cadmium tailings when it is reburied there.
She said representatives of six ministers will have a meeting tomorrow to outline a plan and measures to transport the cadmium waste.
Pol Maj Gen Watcharin Phusit, NED commander, said the team will investigate further before filing charges with the factory and warehouse owners.
As for Jets ada Ken g run g ru ang ch ai, director of J&B Metal Co which ordered the cadmium tailings from Tak and stored them in his smelting factory in Samut Sakhon, he will meet NED police to give a statement today at 10am. As for whether he will be charged, this will depend on the evidence, he said.
Meanwhile, Akaradech Wongpitakroj, United Thai Nation Party MP for Ratchaburi in his capacity as a chairman of the House’s industry committee, demanded the government tackle the shady Chinese business network involved in the cadmium tailings trade.
So far, two suspects have been charged. One is a Chinese owner of an unregistered warehouse in Chon Buri, and another is a Taiwanese national who operates the warehouse in Samut Sakhon.