Krabi locals complain about waste water from palm oil factory

Plaipraya District locals from Krabi called for help today (December 27) after the water in their local canal has become increasingly filthy and black because of the wastewater from a palm oil factory in the area.

Apart from the smell and colour of the canal, a number of fishes have also died in waterways a few kilometres around. The local people suspect that the wastewater comes from the palm oil factory located at the top of the canal.

“It happened a few times before this year but it wasn’t as serious as this time as it has rained heavily. Yesterday, I took a shower near the dam of the canal and noticed that the water had changed from clear to black with a stinky smell and I saw some floating dead fish. I believe this is because of the wastewater that the palm oil factory releases illegally,” said 35 year old Jiradet Saengprom, a Krabi local who claims to be affected by the wastewater problem.

Meanwhile, 49 year old Somsri Saengprom, from the same area, mentioned that there are 30 households in the area who say they are affected by the wastewater in the canal as they use the water daily for consumption and agriculture.

“I want the responsible department and the owner of the factory to show their responsibility towards this matter. If the canal is not cleaned before the dry season, the local people in the area will be lacking clean water for consumption,” she said.

The Chief of the Krabi Provincial Office of Industry, Tassanee Pakdeeprapan, says that she has acknowledged the matter already and has asked the owner of the palm oil factory about the wastewater, which starts at the beginning of the canal, and found that the wastewater comes from a leak at the wastewater treatment lagoon of the factory.

“I’ve asked the owner of the factory to fix the problem immediately and tomorrow (December 28), I’ll send some officials to check on the progress,” she said.