A government committee studying the proposed Land Bridge megaproject has agreed to establish three subcommittees to examine the project's feasibility, environmental impact and public participation process.
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), spoke after the committee's first meeting at Government House on Monday.
The committee, formally known as the Committee for Studying Guidelines to Drive the Transport Infrastructure Development Project Linking the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas.
Mr Danucha said the committee had 90 days to complete its work, making it impractical to begin entirely new studies from scratch. Instead, the panel will rely primarily on the latest and most detailed study conducted by the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP), along with previous findings compiled by the Senate.
Mr Danucha stressed that the committee would assess impacts in all dimensions, including environmental concerns, while also holding public consultations and gathering opinions from local communities and civil society groups.
The meeting approved the establishment of three subcommittees, covering project implementation strategies, environmental impact assessment, and public participation and communications.
The subcommittee on project implementation strategies will include private-sector experts and academics. The environmental impact assessment subcommittee will be chaired by the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, with environmental specialists and agency representatives. The public participation and communications subcommittee, chaired by the transport permanent secretary, will oversee the consultation processes.
