Flood Relief Too Slow In Coming: PM Yingluck

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FLOODS

Flood relief too slow in coming : PM

By The Nation

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday that she had asked the Interior Ministry to study for her review what has happened to Bt5,000 each in assistance money for flood-affected families.

The distribution had not been properly implemented, resulting in many families not receiving it yet.

On her return from inspecting floods in Udon Thani's Muang district, Yingluck said additional measures must be taken to tackle flooding. An example was the expansion of sluice gates in Udon Thani to drain water faster from the Muang district into the Mekong River.

Asked whether she would maintain the previous government's policy of giving Bt5,000 monthly assistance money to each family affected for more than a week by flooding, Yingluck said the policy had to be reviewed. In the past the plan was only in principle and now the government was faced with three rounds of disastrous flooding.

She said the Interior Ministry was studying the whole policy before reporting to Cabinet. Her government would take care of the agricultural sector and soon pay Bt2,222 per rai in compensation, especially to those suffering 100-per-cent damage.

As for the flooding in the South, Yingluck said she had closely followed the situation and put her deputy and Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit in charge. Ideally she would like to inspect the flood-affected areas in person, to get information for faster problem solving, she added.

Earlier in Udon Thani, Yingluck visited the Huai Mak Khaeng pump station. The Thaksin Shinawatra administration allocated Bt668 million to build the station after the municipality was hit by three severe floods in 2000 and 2001 and as part of the government's flood-tackling "Udon Thani Model".

The station, together with the Huai Mang pump station, collects water from eight stations beneath main roads by the Huai Mak Khaeng and Huai Mang canals, before draining the water into Huai Luang and then into the Mekong River in Nong Khai.

Yingluck said the team working on the "Udon Thani Model" would be told hold discussions with a working team on the "Phitsanulok's Bang Rakham Model" to help find a permanent flood plan suitable for Phitsanulok.

The prime minister said she initially agreed in principle with Udon Thani Municipality's long-term flood plan, but would look at the budget first.

Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut said the Royal Irrigation Department would host a meeting of related agencies, including eight provincial governors from the Yom River basin, for the "Bang Rakham Model" on August 31 tomorrow.

The Interior Ministry's flood, storm and landslide disaster mitigation centre reported that floods still ravaged 13 provinces, affecting 592,070 residents and had killed 49 others, with one person missing. About 3.34 million rai (534,400 hectares) of farmlands were said to be affected.

The centre warned of flash floods in 19 provinces including Trat, Chanthaburi, Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Tak, Ranong, Phang Nga and Surat Thani.

In Phang Nga, whose Takua Pa, Khura Buri and Kapong districts were severely hit by floods and 4,000 families were affected, provincial Red Cross Society officials cooked 1,000 lunchboxes for flood victims yesterday morning.

-- The Nation 2011-08-30