Yingluck warns that time is running out
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A sense of urgency was prevalent in Phitsanulok province yesterday as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra warned some 200 local officials that time was running out as far as preparing for this year's floods was concerned.
“Little time is left. Let’s not think about which agency you belong to … the time is here,” Yingluck warned officials as she completed the second of her five-day tour on flood prevention and mitigation in the lower North and Central regions. The premier urged various agencies to execute their planned projects in three months and instructed up-river provinces to not stock up water in dams and reservoirs.
Science Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee told reporters he expected 27 major storms to hit the Kingdom later this year.
Yet despite the warm reception, locals still sounded uncertain about what Yingluck and her government can do to keep the situation under control.
Jamnian Khonrue, a 45-year-old rice farmer at Phitsanulok’s Bang Rakam district, was one of the well-wishers who seemed uncertain.
The farmer, dressed in a red shirt and an apron with Yingluck’s picture, said her 80-rai farm was flooded for nearly six months, which killed her rice crop before it could be harvested.
“I’m still not confident about their plans because they are just digging up canals,” Jamnian said, adding that she would wait and see before deciding whether to invest in a fast-growing crop.
Normally, the low-lying plain in the lower North is flooded between September to October every year. However, last year it was inundated from June to November and the water level was head high.
Canals are being made deeper and reservoirs are being constructed. Problems lie in not just the need for effective coordination between various agencies, but the execution of short, medium and long-term projects. Phitsanulok alone was granted Bt707 million to execute 333 flood-related projects. Yet, so far, the provinces that Yingluck has visited have not been able to come up with a report that reflects the complex and holistic nature of the situation.
