Wednesday 14 December 2005

Joint panel finishes scrutiny of Forest Community Bill

PIYAPORN WONGRUANG

The joint House-Senate panel yesterday finished the scrutiny of the draft Community Forest Bill, but parliament is not taking it up for consideration in this ordinary session, which ends this week. Khunying Kalaya Sophonpanich, a member of the joint panel considering the controversial draft, said the panel had met for the last time to consider the draft bill yesterday before submitting it to the House for a vote. However, the panel later learned that the draft was not listed as a motion for this parliamentary session. Some observers say parliament appeared to be doing a foot-dragging on the bill.

''We have finished our job. So now it is up to the House,'' said Khunying Kalaya.

Thousands of forest dwellers on Sunday demanded that the House take up the draft bill for consideration in its present session, vote it down and re-consider the previous version which allowed management of protected forests by local communities.

The proposed bill was first drafted over a decade ago after 52,968 forest dwellers as well as members of civic groups presented their signatures to support its promulgation.

According to forest expert Permsak Makarabhirom, the first version of the bill called for special committees to manage forests, and it also allowed some human activities in forest areas.

The House voted in favour of it in its first reading in 2001. However, the Senate disagreed and changed some substantive articles to make it unlawful for human settlements to exist in protected forests.

A joint House-Senate panel was subsequently formed to consider the bill and finally agreed to set up ''special conservation zones'' in which no human activities would be allowed.

This has upset forest dwellers. Last month, about 50 of them began a 700-km march from the Chiang Mai to Bangkok, to press their demand that the House and the government revert to the version earlier approved by the House.

Suriyan Thongnu-iad, a representative of the Northern Farmers Federation, said if their demands are not met, forest dwellers would begin declaring their own community forests.