Man who brought Map Ta Phut down targets Yingluck

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and 10 other senior officials are facing a serious challenge over their poor management of the flood crisis from the very man who brought 76 industrial projects in Map Ta Phut to a complete halt a few years ago.
Srisuwan Janya, president of the Stop Global Warming Association (SGWA), returned to the Central Administrative Court yesterday to demand justice for people hit by the recent flood disaster.
“We have asked the court to order inefficient and negligent officials to jointly compensate the plaintiffs based on the actual cost of the damage,” he said.
Up to 352 flood victims have given SGWA the authority to represent them in court and each of the plaintiffs is demanding more than Bt100,000 in compensation.
Those being sued are Yingluck; Justice Minister Pracha Promnok, who led the Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC); Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut; Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit; Royal Irrigation Department director general Chalit Damrongsak; Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra; director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department; direc?tor-general of the Water Resources Department; director-general of the Pollution Control Department; director of the National Disaster Warning Centre; and director-gen?eral of the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning.
“Due to their grave negligence and inefficiency, huge volumes of run-off water ravaged so many provinces from the lower North to the Central Region including Bangkok,” he said.
Srisuwan said Theera had kept too much water in dams in the hope of supporting the government’s rice-mortgage scheme and the water released from the overwhelmed dams later seriously worsened flooding.
“Why didn’t the prime minister appoint a water-management expert to lead FROC? Why did she choose the justice minister for the post? Pracha is only experienced in police work,” he said.
Sukhumbhand, meanwhile, was blamed for only protecting Bangkok without any regard to people living in nearby provinces.
In his court petition, Srisuwan listed down what the SGWA sees as grounds to hold all 11 officials responsible for the flood crisis. This year’s severe flooding was considered one of the country’s worst floods, claim?ing hundreds of lives and causing massive damages.
“Apart from demanding compensation for the victims, we have asked the court to order these officials to prepare tangible measures for flood prevention both in the short and the long term,” Srisuwan said.
In the petition, the SGWA also called on the Central Administrative Court to order the government to earmark at least Bt2 billion a year for the Flood Victim Rehabilitation Fund.
“This budget should increase in response to the inflation rate,” Srisuwan said. “The fund should be managed by the people’s sector and other stakeholders.”
The court, which accepted the petition yesterday, said it would decide later on whether it would rule on the case.
Srisuwan said this was another historic case because it marks the first time hundreds of people have taken legal action against relevant officials, including the PM, over floods.
However, historic cases are noth?ing new for the SGWA and Srisuwan.
In 2009, the Central Administrative Court issued an injunction that put 76 industrial projects in Rayong’s Map Ta Phut area on hold in response to a petition submitted by the SGWA and a group of locals.
That case brought attention to the need to abide by the Constitution’s environmental protection cause and strict compliance with laws when developing industrial projects.