Pm Delivers 'new Homes' To Tsunami Victims

[george]

PM delivers 'new homes' to tsunami victims

RANONG: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today delivered the first set of new permanent houses to local residents in Thailand's southern resort province of Ranong who had become homeless by last month's tsunamis.

The prime minister handed the keys of the new houses to Ranong Governor Vinai Mongkoltharn, who represents the tsunami-affected residents.

The provincial governor then presented the keys to village heads of the province's Kaper District.

The Royal Thai Air Force has helped construct the 'new homes' for Ranong's tsunami victims since 2 January from a fund supported by both public and private agencies, as well as individual donors following the 26 December's tsunamis.

There are 5,000 units of houses under the project, each costs Bt140,000.

Over 40 units of houses have been completely constructed.

Prime Minister Thaksin told TNA yesterday that he expected all the houses would be completely constructed by mid 2005.

At a ceremony to deliver the houses today, the Thai leader said that the permanent housing project was initiated by Her Majesty the Queen, who has been concerned over the plight of the local tsunami victims.

He also encouraged the tsunami victims to continue to fight for life and get through the crisis, saying that they would be supported by all other Thais and would be always taken care of by the government.

Meanwhile, the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Air Force, ACM Kongsak Vantana, delivered computers and other educational equipment and materials to schools in the district.

Ranong is among Thailand's six southern Andaman provinces ravaged by the massive waves. The other five provinces include Phuket, Phang-nga, Krabi, Trang and Satun.

--TNA 2005-02-02