Thailand court lifts suspension on Siam Cement joint venture
A Thai court lifted the suspension of a Siam Cement PCL joint venture in the Map Ta Phut industrial estate, which was among the 65 projects stalled because of environmental concerns.
Siam Yamato Steel wasn’t subject to the injunction as it received an operating license on Aug. 22, 2007, two days before the 2007 Constitution was enacted, the Central Administrative Court said.
Siam Yamato is a joint venture of Cementhai Steel Co., which is a unit of Siam Cement, Mitsui & Co., and Sumitomo Corp.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that 65 of 76 projects at Map Ta Phut industrial estate must remain suspended.
The ruling came after the government appealed a decision by the Administrative Court in late September to issue an injunction to suspend 76 projects valued at 400 billion Thai baht ($12 billion) at the estate. Environmentalists had argued that the permits approved by the government violated the 2007 Constitution.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s largest energy conglomerate by revenue PTT PCL, said Wednesday it plans to file an appeal for its 13 suspended industrial projects later this week or early next week.
The company will study the case of Siam Mamoto first and will individually file the appeal for each project, said PTT spokesperson Attapol Rerkphiboon.
Among them are nine projects in the cabinet’s list of 19 projects that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Tuesday may be able to proceed because they meet similar criteria to those of another 11 projects that a court allowed to go ahead.
However, Prime Minister Abhisit said the companies will have to appeal to the court themselves as the government has no authority to act on their behalf.
Published under Cement News
