ID :
188248
Mon, 06/13/2011 - 15:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/188248
The shortlink copeid
Thailand to set up preventive and relief plans for sugar shipment accidents
BANGKOK, June 13 (TNA) - As Thailand is setting up preventive and relief plans for sugar shipment accidents, officials from agencies concerned held a meeting in Bangkok this afternoon to discuss the plans.
Dr. Praset Tapaneeyangkul, Secretary-General of the Office of the Cane and Sugar, told reporters that the meeting provided a platform for the relevant agencies to share their ideas on a common framework for the prevention and mitigation of future accidents incurring from sugar shipments.
Participants of the meeting included representatives from the Department of Industrial Works, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the Marine Department, the Department of Fisheries, the Pollution Control Department, as well as three Thai Sugar Millers Associations, Thai sugar exporters and private cargo-ship operators.
Prasert acknowledged that most Thai sugar exporters still rely on shipping as their main method of transportation due to its lower cost, and that sugar produced in the country is normally stored at the warehouses located in Ang Thong Provinces before it is shipped out on barges along the Chao Phraya River to sea ports in Bangkok's suburban Samut Prakan Province and the eastern Chon Buri Provinces and then to the international market.
The secretary-general said accidents incurring from sugar shipments, as a recent one in Thailand's central Ayutthaya Province in which a barge carrying some 2,400 tonnes of brown sugar hit a bridge pillar and sank, can also cause widespread water pollution, along with the loss of lives and public properties; so, his Office of the Cane and Sugar and the local private sector are calling for the Office of Insurance Commission to offer life insurance, non-life insurance and environmental insurance for relevant private companies to reduce the risk of their business operations--as part of the official preventive and relief plans.
According to the secretary-general, Thai exports and production of sugarcane and sugar have expanded considerably. During 2010-2011 alone, Thailand has recorded the highest production of sugarcane and sugar at 95.3 and 9.6 tonnes respectively. Last year, Thailand exported 1.2 million tonnes of sugar; while during the first six months of this year, the country’s sugar exports surged to 1.5 million tonnes. (TNA)
Dr. Praset Tapaneeyangkul, Secretary-General of the Office of the Cane and Sugar, told reporters that the meeting provided a platform for the relevant agencies to share their ideas on a common framework for the prevention and mitigation of future accidents incurring from sugar shipments.
Participants of the meeting included representatives from the Department of Industrial Works, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the Marine Department, the Department of Fisheries, the Pollution Control Department, as well as three Thai Sugar Millers Associations, Thai sugar exporters and private cargo-ship operators.
Prasert acknowledged that most Thai sugar exporters still rely on shipping as their main method of transportation due to its lower cost, and that sugar produced in the country is normally stored at the warehouses located in Ang Thong Provinces before it is shipped out on barges along the Chao Phraya River to sea ports in Bangkok's suburban Samut Prakan Province and the eastern Chon Buri Provinces and then to the international market.
The secretary-general said accidents incurring from sugar shipments, as a recent one in Thailand's central Ayutthaya Province in which a barge carrying some 2,400 tonnes of brown sugar hit a bridge pillar and sank, can also cause widespread water pollution, along with the loss of lives and public properties; so, his Office of the Cane and Sugar and the local private sector are calling for the Office of Insurance Commission to offer life insurance, non-life insurance and environmental insurance for relevant private companies to reduce the risk of their business operations--as part of the official preventive and relief plans.
According to the secretary-general, Thai exports and production of sugarcane and sugar have expanded considerably. During 2010-2011 alone, Thailand has recorded the highest production of sugarcane and sugar at 95.3 and 9.6 tonnes respectively. Last year, Thailand exported 1.2 million tonnes of sugar; while during the first six months of this year, the country’s sugar exports surged to 1.5 million tonnes. (TNA)
