As Flood Time Nears, PM Yingluck Calls For Work Speed Up

[webfact]

INUNDATION

As flood time nears, PM calls for work speed up

PIYANART SRIVALO,

NANTHIDA PUANGTHONG

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Following concern that water management was progressing slowly in upstream areas, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday called a National Water Resources and Flood Policy Committee (NWFPC) meeting to make reports.

Yingluck admitted some work in the upstream area was behind schedule and told reporters that agencies were trying to speed it up, aiming for all stages to be complete in time to tackle this rainy season's flooding. In the areas affected by delays, officials would discuss appropriate adjustments, she said.

The prime minister said she had received no information from provincial governors about land subsidence at previously flooded areas in Angthong, Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani. She said, however, she felt quite relieved at some work progress, including water release from dams and ongoing and progressing pipe dredging.

Yingluck said her main concern was now with construction projects, because the bidding and contract signing took time - but she would focus on them.

Yingluck commented before the Cabinet meeting yesterday on delays in water management, saying the upstream area should have been completed by June, mid-stream by July and the downstream area by August.

As of July, the upstream works remain incomplete. She said she would personally supervise progress through the NWFPC.

Meanwhile, Science and Technology Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee said the government was offering large Thai and foreign consultancy companies a terms of reference (TOR) application for a Bt300-billion project for the design of a sustainable water-management system and flood solutions.

The TOR was available from the office of the ministry's permanent secretary.

He said the bid winner would be announced early next year. A conference to explain the TOR would be held at the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Monday, he added.

This bidding would be for 14 large-scale projects including eight schemes in the Chao Phraya River basin and six at other river basins. Plodprasob said his project wouldn't be in conflict with the Bt120-billion water-management project planned for upstream, mid-stream and downstream areas, which would be enhanced by it.

Corrections Department chief Suchart Wong-anantachai said the project in which inmates are dredging sewage and drainage pipes in Bangkok would be complete by July 15, in time to tackle flooding threats.

Suchart said the project now covered 88.96 per cent - or 3,223,834 metres out of the 3,624,095 metres - of pipes the government initially assigned the department to dredge. He said the inmates dredged an additional 500-kilometre-long area, which left the progress slower than anticipated.

-- The Nation 2012-07-04

[theblether]

We need to be fair......there is no way Thailand could fix years of water management neglect in one year. I'm interested to see if there are any improvements, I'm sure there will be, but I think it will be another couple of years before the real benefits will start to come through.

Time will tell, let's wait and see.

[whybother]

I thought she had said multiple times that everything was on target. Hasn't she been visiting these places every couple of weeks to personally check on the progress?

Sent from my shoe phone

[OzMick]

Land subsidence???? ...areas in Angthong, Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani???

[thunder30101]

Yeah lets be fair lol, the money allocated for these projects has all disappeared already so nothing will get done this year or in 6 years. But hey the most expensive real estate in bangkok owned by certain people will be saved once again at the cost of the rest of the country.

[MaxLee]

Isn't it any wonder that nothing has been done yet,... the government has been too busy to reconcile and "reconcile and reconcile their reconciliation plans over and over again" or "trying to control the goods prices and to move their agenda against their rival yellow shirts", "delaying NASA's study plan in Utapo",... that their actual construction plans for flooding have almost been forgotten...

.... Nothing has been done yet, and it's already too late to "catch up for the disaster years to come...

... the FROC teams who claim "There will be now MAJOR floods this year", are just kidding themselves and lying about their A****es with the very ones who suffer the most...

[hkt83100]

Nice picture of Kueng Lam Ta Kong...

http://coord.info/GC2VJ87

[h90]

We need to be fair......there is no way Thailand could fix years of water management neglect in one year. I'm interested to see if there are any improvements, I'm sure there will be, but I think it will be another couple of years before the real benefits will start to come through.

Time will tell, let's wait and see.

You have no idea what can be done if it is wanted....Both with money and force.

When they moved to the new airport, the complete system for the luggage didn't work. Just put in 10.000 soldiers to do it manual...problem fixed.

If you give out orders for doing the water protection to private companies, not only in Thailand, also invite Malaysian companies. Add a 50.000 soldiers. Stall some street projects to free resources.

And it is done in 6 month.

But if you first need 6 month to discuss how to share the corruption money than forward it to local governors who than start to discuss how to share the corruption money than nothing is moving.....

And of course they don't want the military to help.

[lungmi]

Dutch specialists for water-management already have been kicked out by the National-Ignorance-Agency.

[Jamo]

Did anyone else notice ------------->

"Suchart said the project now covered 88.96 per cent - or 3,223,834 metres out of the 3,624,095 metres - of pipes the government initially assigned the department to dredge. He said the 'inmates' dredged an additional 500-kilometre-long area, -which left the progress slower than anticipated- .

I suppose paying wages for labour would be far far too costly for Yings' elitist, useless waste of a party. - Still, i suppose it does allow for a massive amount of Buck Passing in the event of any, or all shortcomings, vicariously and completely. ROFL....

Nice one Shin.Corp

[belg]

as you could see on thai tv, they just started to drag some big plants out of some canals

6-7 months after the floods, you might have tought they would have started this first thing the water resided... but hey, this is thailand after all, the land of smiles (in your face and laughs behind your back)

[Yunla]

I think Yingluck has got a lot of nerve to tell other people they work too slowly, when she herself only shows up in parliament during equinoxes, and doesn't do much work then either.

Edited July 4, 2012 by Yunla

[h90]

Dutch specialists for water-management already have been kicked out by the National-Ignorance-Agency.

Most probably they started to ask why the same things cost half the price in Holland.

[GentlemanJim]

As a foreign consultancy firm or construction firm I would be very very wary about applying for any contract with the Thai government, especially when such large amounts of money are involved. Isn't there still a German company, 100's of millions out of pocket because the Thai's have never paid them for work done?

[spirit47]

Hurry, hurry, what a joke, Toyota Islands maybe finished in time, Ayuthaya 3m under. This year 10.000 boats burning gas in Chao Praya River

Without cooperating with the Netherlands, Bangkok have no future, at least the sealevel is a main problem. Time to buy tinned foods and complete all importing orders. Living in a comic-strip...