Bt55.9 bn approved for flood and water management project

The projects are part of long-term measures in the overall scheme, which will begin next year and end in 2026. The Bt55,958-million budget consists of a leftover amount earmarked in the 2014 allocation of Bt1.7 billion, and the budget for 2015. 

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said spending under the scheme would be monitored closely by the public and private sectors, together with anti-corruption bodies, while the military’s ruling National Council for Peace and Order would set up a committee to check for any graft.

Irrigation Department chief Lertviroj Kowattana, as secretary-general of the newly set-up Thai National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (THAICID), said the Bt55.9 billion would be spent on 4,227 projects. It was part of a total sum of Bt108.23 billion that would be needed.

He said THAICID had also proposed to Cabinet that another management branch be set up, increasing the number of branches to six, with the management of water for consumption separated from management of irrigation. The latter would include better restoration of watershed forests, the prevention of landslides or land erosion, mitigation of disasters, and flood prevention.

The upgraded management of irrigation, if or when implemented, would oversee the restoration of 147,000 rai (23,520 hectares) of deteriorating forests, and try to prevent land erosion in 675,000 rai, while providing water for consumption to 3,941 villages and waterworks service to 481 urban areas.

Speaking after chairing yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Prayut said ministers also discussed a strategy on cooperation with foreign countries, which were divided into six groups – Asean members and neighbouring countries; Japan and China; European countries; other Western countries; island countries; and those in the Middle East. 

Thailand will play the role of provider of educational and academic assistance for some states.