Ubon Ratchathani - News

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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT / HUMAN SETTLEMENT ISSUES - BANGKOK POST ( http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/02Oct2007_news11.php )

Govt to set up housing committee

ANCHALEE KONGRUT

A committee to tackle housing and human settlement issues will be set up later this year, Deputy Social Development and Human Security Minister Poldej Pinprateep said yesterday.

He said the committee, which will be chaired by the prime minister and supervised by the PM's Office, will handle housing and settlement issues at the policy level.

"Currently, Thailand only has the National Housing Authority of Thailand [NHA] to provide low-income housing and the Community Organisations Development Institute [Codi] to handle the problems of slum dwellers. But the country has never had a national committee to handle the issue," Mr Poldej said at a seminar to mark World Habitat Day.

He said the social development ministry has already prepared a draft plan and will forward it for cabinet approval within two weeks.

More than 700 members of the Four Slums Network rally outside the United Nations office on Ratchadamnoen avenue, complaining about their housing problems as they marked World Habitat Day yesterday. — CHANAT KATANYU

NHA board member Kwansuang Atibhothi said Thailand needs to expand its efforts and policy on housing and settlement issues.

"The authority concentrates primarily on providing low-income housing and on trying to help slum dwellers, while other groups are left out even though they also face settlement security problems," he said.

To broaden the scope of housing work, the NHA has launched four pilot projects _ three in the northeastern region and one in Bangkok.

These four areas, said Mr Kwansuang, are "the tip of the iceberg" and represent settlement and housing problems across the country.

The first project is Ban Mor Village in Maha Sarakham province, where environmental problems and a land shortage pose a threat to people's housing security. This artisans village _ more than a century old and famed for its pottery _ faces cultural extinction as many youngsters ignore their ancestral heritage.

The second is a traditional community in Muang Sakhon Nakhon province. With 300 vintage teak houses, the community is strong. Elders are trying to preserve community culture, but their tasks are ignored by youngsters and developers. The third project concerns five communities in Muang district of Ubon Ratchathani that are slated to be cleared as the municipality wants to build a new river walk by the Moon river.

The project in Bangkok will focus on the 40-year-old Din Daeng flats, where some tenants have defied the NHA's plan to demolish them and put up new buildings, fearing they will lose the right to stay there.

Mr Kwansuang said state agencies and housing experts will learn from these projects and come up with a housing policy that can respond to all sectors.

The NHA will ask the Finance Ministry to issue bonds worth 15 billion baht to cover losses incurred by the Ua-arthorn housing project for people on low incomes, Mr Poldej said. The agency will scale down the size of the project, from 600,000 units to 300,000 units, to reduce financial losses. It also plans to launch a more aggressive marketing campaign encouraging house swaps, hoping this will encourage consumers to boost occupancy levels.

The Ua-arthorn project, created by the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, has been crippled as demand is lower than projected.

The NHA's board decided to go ahead with the demolition of some buildings in the Din Daeng flats for safety reasons.The demolition will be discussed with members of the community at a public hearing next week.

But the board agreed to allow original tenants to stay, on condition that they pay a higher rents of 3,000 to 4,000 baht a month, up from 300 baht a month.