'4-river project has no structural problems'
Kwon Do-youp Yoo Young-sook Transport minister Environment minister
By Park Si-soo
Two ministers in charge of territory development and environmental protection clashed head-on with the state auditor on Friday over President Lee Myung-bak’s signature four-river refurbishment project that cost 22 trillion won ($20.84 billion) over the past five years.
The rare collective action against the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) took place a day after the BAI concluded in a months-long investigation of the project last year that it went wrong from the beginning and is environmentally hazardous. The state auditor voiced concern that the project will require the next administration to spend an excessive amount to counter any negative fallout.
The intensified conflict is expected to compromise the government’s efforts to sell know-how and technology used for the project to flood-prone nations such as Thailand. The Southeast Asian nation, which suffered disastrous flooding in 2011, will soon announce a preferred bidder for its giant anti-flooding project.
“Core facilities built for the project have no structural problems at all,” Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Minister Kwon Do-youp told reporters, refuting the BAI inspection report that 15 of 16 reservoirs for irrigation were too weak to weather shocks that could occur if their floodgates open.
“My ministry oversaw the facilities thoroughly in cooperation with experts from the private sector.” The minister said the reservoirs contributed a lot last summer to preventing damage from a severe drought and later flood waters.
Kwon said extra work to beef up the endurance of the reservoirs and other related facilities is underway. The ongoing construction, to be completed by April, will clear all safety concerns, he asserted.
Environment Minister Yoo Young-sook echoed Kwon’s view, claiming that the project contaminated water in some areas. She said the BAI used the wrong methods in its audit.
“We’ve checked the quality of water in affected areas based on biochemical an oxygen demand test, while the BAI came to the wrong conclusion after conducting the audit using a chemical oxygen demand (COD) test,” Yoo said. “We stopped using COD tests in July 2009.”
About rumbling criticism over the increasing occurrence of harmful algal blooms, Yoo said her ministry will come up with fundamental solutions.
The refurbishment project was one of the core campaign pledges of President Lee. After taking office in February 2008, he pushed it despite a strong backlash from opposition parties and environmentalists.
He said it would revitalize the nation’s four major rivers ― the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeoungsan ― and create eco-friendly green spaces in neighborhoods and control water quality. The government declared the project finished last year.
Lee said residents and the nation would benefit from the refurbishment as water quality would be improved and the rivers would attract tourists. But opponents argue it has only harmed the environment. The presidential office remains silent over the results.