New heavyweights unveil their strategies

Newly appointed Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wichet Kasemthongsri has vowed to launch a renewed battle against those who encroach on forest reserves and has also ordered senior officials to review forest-protection laws.
The minister, who formerly chaired PTT’s board of directors has also instructed his officials to monitor forested areas using satellite imagery every three months. He said this would help judge the performance of high-level officials and would also enable officials to better protect national reserves nationwide.
In the past few years, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has been cracking down on encroachers, especially in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Wang Nam Kheow district, where luxury resort owners and private residents have taken over large tracts of forestland. However, the crackdown lost steam after DNP decided to let these encroachers rent the land instead of prosecuting them.
Wichet said he would consider getting civic groups involved in the management of natural resources in their respective areas and would also put preparedness for natural disasters on the top of his agenda.
The minister added that he would comply with the Central Administrative Court’s verdict, in which the government was ordered to conduct environmental and health impact assessments of its water-management scheme. He said he had recently spoken to the Royal Forest Department and the DNP on whether to go ahead with the ministry’s plan to plant more than 800 million trees to rehabilitate damaged forest areas.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang vowed yesterday to urgently push for the reform of school curriculum as well as improving teaching and learning methods. He has also promised to push for the development of teachers and improve performance assessment schemes. Chaturon was speaking to reporters after meeting with executives in charge of the ministry’s five key agencies.
Chaturon went on to say that the curriculum reform initiated by his predecessor Phongthep Thepkanjana would take at least five to six years to go into full effect.
“Over this period, we will have to change teaching and learning methods as well. They must evolve in line with new developments. For instance, we should encourage children to hunt for knowledge on the Internet, but at the same time, they should be taught to analyse the information. It’s not just about accessing information,” the minister said.
On assessing academic performance, Chaturon said it was necessary to have standard tests.
Meanwhile, the newly-appointed Social Development and Human Security Minister Pavena Hongsakul told her ministerial executives yesterday that all agencies under the ministry need to work proactively, accept public complaints quickly, forward cases, help the affected and implement preventive measures. She said they would initially focus on four issues: unprepared pregnancy, human trafficking, child labour and domestic abuse.
She said she would unofficially open the ministry’s 24-hour complaint centre before it is officially launched on July 24, and would also set up four working teams, which would work hand-in-hand with the police. She is also scheduled to meet the national police chief next week and possibly the Foreign Ministry for cooperation to curb human trafficking.