Plodprasob defends flood spending; new panel to assist BMA
Science and Technology Minister Plodprasob Surassawadi yesterday tried to assure the House that the government's flood-control budget was being spent transparently, and unveiled plans for a new panel that would work with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administr
The new body would be a sub-panel under the Water and Flood Management Committee (WFMC), which Plodprasob chairs.
Responding to a question from Trang Democrat MP Satit Wongnongtoey about spending, Plodprasob said the Bt350-billion flood-prevention scheme had hired seven qualified contractors, who would sign contracts by next April.
Countering reports that 20 provinces were flooded, Plodprasob said that only Ayutthaya’s Bang Ban district and Phitsanulok’s Bang Rakham district, which are under 30cm of water, were close to that state, defining “flooded” as being under 50cm or more of water.
He insisted that the money spent had been put to good use, especially on repair work, which had absorbed 60 per cent of the budget.
The repair work covered transport infrastructure (Bt26 billion), equipment (Bt49 billion), water-management infrastructure (Bt25 billion), work on state offices (Bt7.9 billion), rebuilding of education and public health premises (Bt6.2 billion) and restoration of ancient sites and tourist attractions (Bt27 billion), he said. He added that he was fully confident that no money had been lost to corruption.
Satit pressed Plodprasob on several matters. Among them were Interior Ministry deputy permanent secretary Pracha Terat’s inquiry into alleged corruption at related agencies in some provinces; the failure of the Bang Rakham model, as the government’s flood-management scheme is known; when the government would end what he called the politicisation of the flood problem; and when it would stop attacking the BMA.
Plodprasob insisted that far from being a failure, the Bang Rakham model was a positive move that had helped to test the Nan and Yom river basins’ water-diversion systems. He said he would check Pracha’s memo on allegations of corruption. The minister also insisted his criticisms of the BMA’s work wasn’t politically motivated and that the Pheu Thai Party had no policy to make fighting floods a political issue.
Responding to Samut Prakan MP Worachai Hema’s questions about how to tackle flooding in Bangkok, Plodprasob said the BMA should think more broadly about flood prevention, instead of solely tackling rainwater, and suggested the city lay surface pipes to help the underground pipe system drain water more quickly.
