Rayong fishermen have filed a civil lawsuit against PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), seeking 400 million baht in damages relating to an oil spill which hit the province last year.
They have also filed a separate case in the Rayong Administrative Court against the company, the provincial governor and five government agencies involved for failing to properly handle the spill.
They have also filed a separate case in the Rayong Administrative Court against the company, the provincial governor and five government agencies involved for failing to properly handle the spill.
“Money is not our priority. We want to create a precedent for future environmental cases,” said Paibul Lekrat, one of the fishermen.
The 454 fishermen are also asking PTTGC to set up a fund and contribute 10% of its annual net profit to assist local villagers and restore the marine environment, said Sor Rattanamanee Polkla, a lawyer for the Community Resources Centre who is representing the group.
The lawsuit claims that each individual fisherman will lose between 300,000 and 3 million baht over the three-year period after the spill. About 40% of them have been forced to abandon their jobs and work as labourers after their catches dwindled.
The oil spill occurred on July 27 last year when a PTTGC pipeline ruptured near Rayong’s Map Ta Phut, sending at least 50,000 litres of crude into the sea. The oil spread to Ao Phrao beach on the popular resort island of Koh Samet and some parts of the Rayong coastline. In the second case filed yesterday, the fishermen accused PTTGC, Rayong governor Vichit Chartpaisit, the Committee on the Prevention and Combating of Oil Pollution, the Marine Department, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, and the Pollution Control Department (PCD) of failing to properly respond to the spill.
2014 The Post Publishing PCL