PM on confidence-building tour -Thailand News

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is trying to shore up public confidence in her administration's flood-prevention measures with visits to riverside provinces this week.

"Her schedule is tight," government spokeswoman Sansanee Nakpong said yesterday. "She will check on flood-prevention preparations in eight provinces."

Yingluck started her tour on Monday, visiting Pathum Thani and Ayutthaya. She was back in Bangkok yesterday to attend the Cabinet meeting, and then went to Sing Buri. By tomorrow, she is scheduled to have visited Chai Nat, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Tak and Chiang Mai.

Sansanee said the premier aims to step up flood-prevention efforts as the rainy season begins while also boosting the confidence of Thais and foreign investors.

After the Cabinet meeting in Bangkok, Yingluck yesterday visited tambon Phra Ngarm in Sing Buri's Phrom Buri district.

There, she checked on the Phra Ngarm and Lam Chuad water gates, which are connected to 10 fields that have been designated as water-retention areas. Together, these "monkey cheek" zones span over 265,977 rai in Sing Buri, Chai Nat and Ayutthaya, and have the capacity to hold 523 million cubic metres of water.

Authorities plan to push run-off water into these fields after farmers have harvested their crops.

Yingluck instructed that the water-management authorities communicate with locals so there will be mutual understanding and to ensure that the harvest is completed before the fields are flooded.

"The Interior Ministry and the Royal Irrigation Department must also prepare for evacuation of the areas and coordinate with all relevant authorities," she said.

Speaking in his capacity as the chairman of the Water and Flood Management Committee, Science Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee described the 10 fields as the biggest water-retention zone in the country.

Plodprasob also disclosed that the Cabinet had already approved his committee's terms of reference for a water-management infrastructure project that will cost about Bt300 billion.

"We will invite private firms to submit proposals," he said. "The government will review the proposals and name three finalists after which a selection panel will be set up to decide who should get the project."

He said the construction of the water-management infrastructure was expected to start early next year.

The government has placed much attention on water management and flood prevention since the floods of last year, which claimed hundreds of lives and caused massive damage to property and the economy.

Interior Ministry deputy permanent secretary Pracha Terat yesterday urged the victims of last year's floods to understand that the government's cash handouts to them was financial assistance, not compensation.

Many flood victims have blocked roads to demand that the government give each family Bt20,000 in compensation. Agencies have assessed damages to flood-hit houses and calculated the amount of financial assistance accordingly. But some of the victims feel the calculations are unfair.

Pracha said the victims who believed the amount of financial assistance for them was not properly calculated should file complaints.

"The prime minister has already instructed all local bodies to reassess the damages," he said.

So far, Pracha insisted that the demand for Bt20,000 compensation for all flood-hit households was not possible.

"The government has a limited budget," Pracha said.

He also warned against the blocking of roads as a form of protest, saying there would be tough legal action against such demonstrations.

Meanwhile, flooding has hit many southern and northern provinces at the start of the rainy season.

In Surat Thani, flood damages were estimated at more than Bt40 million. In Sukhothai, floods from the overflowing Yom River blanketed a vast area of farmland.-The Nation (June 13, 2012)