Govt to pay those hit by flood schemes
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The Cabinet yesterday approved payment of compensation for residents affected by various new flood-prevention projects, including those making claims on the controversial Rasi Salai weir.
Cabinet members, including Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, had debated initially whether those affected by the Rasi Salai weir should be compensated, as they were seen as hard-to-please troublemakers.
She also warned against any crowd protests or the use of road blockades, saying: “Don't use the road-blockade culture with this government, as it is not right and legitimate. You can be given assistance” just by appealing for it.
Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut had argued that the Rasi Salai weir people should get the money, as part of the overall assistance – while Science Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee accused non-governmental organisations supporting the Rasi Salai people of profiteering from commissions deducted from compensatory payments.
Yingluck warned that provincial authorities would be penalised if there were mob protests or road blockades.
“Local protest activities should be reported to the Interior Ministry or to any relevant ministry before they [blow up]. Don’t let me learn of the protests from newspapers before I am notified through the bureaucracy,” she said.
Approval was finally given to grant money to people troubled by four projects: the Rasi Salai weir (Bt133,542,936); the Huay Ta Joo reservoir project (Bt48,600,000); the Huai Khanun reservoir project (Bt43,656,225); and the Huai Dan Ai reservoir project (Bt5,206,250).
The money will be allocated from a communal budget for emergency payments.
For Rasi Salai weir cases, the money will be paid to owners of 4,173,086 rai (667,694 hectares) of farmland lost to make way for the weir and other installations, said Government Spokeswoman Sansanee Nakpong, who read out the Cabinet paper. The money will be wired to bank accounts of qualified recipients.
For the Huay Ta Joo reservoir project, the money will go to owners of 216 land plots. Recipients must sign a paper agreeing to the settlement and not to make any further demands for payment or other assistance.
For the Huai Khanun reservoir project, the money will go to 106 owners of farmlands through bank transactions signed in acceptance of such conditions.
For the Huai Dan Ai reservoir project, the money will go to 15 recipients using the fund from the emergency budget jointly with an amount from the Royal Irrigation Department. Recipients must sign the agreements.
