P-move seeks answers

Back in May, the group called off their 18-day rally at Government House after an agreement was reached and the government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a promise to bring land-rights problems to the Cabinet’s attention.
Suporn Attawong, deputy secretary-general to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, said Yingluck had appointed PM’s Office Minister Varathep Ratanakorn on June 27 to lead a committee to discuss the Pak Mun Dam-related problems.
Attawong also suggested three possible candidates to replace Chalerm Yoobamrung as chair of the sub-committee to address P-Move’s complaints.
He said Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan, Deputy Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana, and Deputy Minister Pracha Promnok would make a good fit, though their availability would have to be taken into account. Addition-ally, the new committee would comprise villagers in order to achieve a solution that would make them happy, Attawong said.
Another protest, by about 1,000 Thai Farmers Association members, was held outside the Government House yesterday demanding the PM work out issues of agricultural debt. Cabinet Secretary Surachai Pooprasert invited 10 representatives to Government House to discuss ways to meet the group’s demands.
The demands were:
l The government should set a quota to export at least 500,000 tonnes of rice plus another export quota of 500,000 tonnes of rice for the Agricultural Co-operative Federa-tion of Thailand. This measure should be implemented along with the rice pledge of Bt15,000 per tonne;
l The government should take over the the debts and assets of farmers who are members of the Office of Farmers’ Reconstruction and Development Fund, and cut overdue debt interest and reduce the original debt amount; and
l The Finance Ministry should make all government-operated banks pay off members of the Office of Farmers’ Reconstruction and Development Fund immediately.