Cabinet okays 246 projects in principle

The Cabinet yesterday approved in principle 246 projects, which requires Bt24billion in budget, for the country's improved water management and flood prevention.

PM’s deputy secretary general Pol Maj General Tawat Boonfuang said the projects were proposed by the Transport Ministry and endorsed by the National Water and Flood Policy Committee (NWFPC).
“Relevant authorities will have to work on the detail and present the detailed plans for the Cabinet to review again,” Tawat said.
Among the projects are mega ones like the constructions/extensions of roads of which level will be high enough to serve as embankment against floodwater.
Last year, flood crisis hit Thailand causing hundreds of deaths, submerging farmland and seven industrial estates, and affecting the lives of millions.
The government has since established many committees including NWFPC to improve the country’s water management and floodprevent systems.
According to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the NWFPC will also decide on which plots of land should be used for waterretention purpose in the wet season. While the government has planned to prepare some two million rai of land as waterretention areas, the Agriculture Ministry had come up with up to three million rai of land for the government to choose.
“The NWFPC will look into the detail,” Yingluck said.
She said a team was developing a mathematical model to determine the amount of water volume and how expansive waterretention areas should be.
Yingluck said the waterretention areas would be needed if the amount of water from the upstream was higher than the amount waterways and dams could cope.
She said it should become clear within one month as to which areas would be used for waterretention purpose.
The prime minister said remedial actions for people to be affected by the waterretentionarea plan would be announced around the same time.
Deputy Government Spokesman Pakdeeharn Himathongkham disclosed that the Cabinet already approved Bt30million for the purpose of hiring 25 educational institutes in monitoring the progress of floodrehabilitation and floodprevention efforts.
“We have found that many implementation agencies have not yet started the projects they have already got the budget. Such delay may upset the government’s plan to prevent flooding this year. So, the progress must be monitored,” Pakdeeharn said.
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday questioned why the government had set up so many committees, which seemed to complicate the work process.
“With so many committees, it seems the government cannot announce clear plans at all,” he said.
According to the Royal Irrigation Department, the amount of water in dams now stood at around 47,499 million cubic metres. The amount was 6,372 million cubic metres higher than the 2011 figure.