By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

Korea's 22 trillion-won civil engineering project, aimed at restoring the basin areas of four major rivers, has passed an environmental impact assessment test, giving momentum to a project critics argue will devastate the country's ecosystem.

The Ministry of Environment said Sunday it had reached a conclusion that the controversial project, which is supposed to be completed by 2012, will play a key role in improving the water quality of the rivers and their ecological environment.

This was based on a five-month-long study conducted by independent agencies on 61 construction sites, as well as public hearings and discussions with experts.

"By 2012, when the project is to be completed, the quality of water of the four rivers is expected to become purer than that of 2006," the ministry said in a statement. "The project is also unlikely to cause problems in the supply of drinking water."

The project is expected to cost the government $19 billion to restore the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan rivers in order to prevent floods and cope with water shortages.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said construction of 15 dams on the rivers will kick off Tuesday, indicating the full-fledged start of the project is just around the corner.

The project, estimated to cost 1.5 trillion won, is to be completed in 2011.

"The ground will be broken for the four-river project this week as the government has wrapped up its study on its environmental impact," Yonhap News quoted a ministry official as saying.

The project is a replacement for one of President Lee Myung-bak's key campaign pledges to build a network of cross-country waterways for a grand canal, which was scrapped after facing opposition from environmentalists and opposition parties.

Supporters say the gigantic project will help prevent floods, which cost the nation an average of 2.7 trillion won per year in damage and 4.3 trillion won in repairs, while opponents condemned it for what they call economical inefficiency and disastrous environmental side-effects.

Opponents lashed out at the result, saying the result was made in a cursory manner.

"It's impossible to complete the assessment of the potential impact of the project on the 634-kilometer-long construction site in five months. This reflects that it was done carelessly," said an opposition group in a statement.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr