SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

State of the Basin Report - 2003More effective use of the Mekong river system as an international transit route will materialisewhen both countries can benefit. One of the factors influencing such development will be the strongpossibility that international shippers will make greater use of the economic trade potential madepossible by the triangle of Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh and Can Tho Ports.12. Navigation and the environment12.1 Environmental Impacts of inland water navigationOf the four governments of the Lower Mekong Basin, Thailand appears have the strongest regulationsto deter boat and port operators from discharging fuel or other liquid or solid waste matter intowaterways or onto adjoining land. In Thailand, the Harbour Department has authority under itsenabling legislation to issue fines for those who spill foreign matter into waterways. However, anumber of ports along the Thai side of the Mekong are not owned and managed by the HarbourDepartment, but instead by provincial government authorities. Thus the Harbour Department doesnot have the power to prosecute all the infringements that could occur.While there have been no reports of major spills, research sindicates that no agency has the possibility of rapidlymobilising the trained personnel and specialised equipmentneeded to clean up after a spill. Only in Thailand and VietNam do the relevant line agencies have the necessarypersonnel and equipment, but they are located in Bangkokand Ho Chi Minh City, some 600-700 km and some 150 km,respectively, from the main waterways of the Lower MekongBasin.In Viet Nam, all new projects involving dredging ordevelopment of infrastructure, in and beside waterways, arenow required to undergo an environmental impact assessment(EIA). In Thailand, EIAs are required for port developmentprojects designed to handle vessels of greater than 500 DWT,which would seem to exempt most, if not all, portdevelopment projects likely to proceed along the MekongRiver in Thailand. In Cambodia and Lao PDR, there appearsas yet to be no requirement for EIAs to be completed forinland waterway projects.Provision of specialised port facilitieswould reduce the risks posed by shipsand barges carrying petroleum andother potentially-dangerous cargoBetter monitoring, coordination and control of navigation activities can contribute significantly toa better environment by reducing shipping accidents and regulating the movement of dangerousand toxic substances. For example, the provision of specialised port facilities would eliminate therisks involved in the beach landings of petroleum tanker barges where no such specialised facilitiesexist. In addition, the introduction of common rules and regulations will reduce the frequency ofcollisions, and with it the pollution risk.sMRC missions to member countries, April – May 2002.240