Yala: The Cabinet has approved a request for an exemption to allow Sila Industry Co., Ltd. to utilize a Class 1B watershed area for mining activities in Yala Province. This decision, aligned with mining concession request No. 6/2015, involves an additional area of 34 rai, 3 ngan, and 25 square wa, as per the Cabinet resolution on November 7, 1989, which addressed the National Environment Board's recommendations on land use in watershed areas.
According to Thai News Agency, the Cabinet has also approved a relaxation of the implementation of resolutions from May 15, 1990, and October 4, 2016, concerning the use of forest and watershed areas for mining. This includes permissions for TPI Polene Public Company Limited in Saraburi Province, as proposed by the Ministry of Industry. The Department of Primary Industries and Mining is tasked with ensuring that all procedural and regulatory requirements are met before the mining concession is granted.
Ms. Sasikarn Wattanachan, Deputy Government Spokesperson, explained that Class 1A watersheds are pristine forest areas preserved as national resources, while Class 1B watersheds are areas where forests have undergone changes for land development before 1982. Special control measures are required for land use in these areas, and similar specifications apply to Class 1A and 1B watersheds with mineral potential, classified as 1AM and 1BM, respectively.
Additionally, the Cabinet approved an exemption for Sila Thong Wichian Limited Partnership to mine industrial limestone in a Class 1B watershed area in Phetchabun Province, under mining concession request No. 2/2560. This approval follows previous Cabinet resolutions and covers an area of 136 rai 72 square wah in Tambon Sam Yaek, Amphoe Wichian Buri, Phetchabun Province.
The Cabinet's decisions from May 15, 1990, emphasized that permission for mining activities, including blasting and rock crushing, in Class 1 watershed areas must be considered on a case-by-case basis. As of September 16, 1997, the Cabinet approved the use of Class 1B, 1BR, and 1BM watershed areas for industrial mining concessions across 20 sites in 13 provinces, including Phetchabun Province, for 10-year periods.
Sila Thong Wichian Limited Partnership's application for mining concession No. 2/2560 overlaps with a previously permitted area, No. 25615/25411. The inspection confirmed that the area is not prohibited for mining, is not a natural area requiring preservation, and does not pose environmental or public inconvenience concerns.