Thai Floods raise questions on huge outlays

[webfact]

Floods raise questions on huge outlays
PONGPHON SARNSAMAK
THE NATION



EFFECTIVENESS OF BT120 BILLION SPENT ON PREVENTION MEASURES IN SPOTLIGHT

BANGKOK: -- THE GOVERNMENT budgeted Bt120 billion to repair the vast damage from the Great Flood of 2011 and protect the country from repeat rainy-season disasters, but the recent swamping of at least 35 provinces shows the scheme has failed to do the job very well.

The Bt120-billion budget was allocated to 19 agencies including the Transport Ministry, Public Works and Town and Country Planning Department, Water Resources Department and Irrigation Department for 154 projects in 30 provinces under the flood recovery and reconstruction scheme.

The projects included the restoration of damaged equipment and construction of dykes, sluice gates, pump stations and flood-prevention roads.

Most of the projects were completed and were said to be ready to tackle flooding, until the recent deluge proved otherwise.

Prachin Buri's case was a good example to show that the equipment and construction could not control and prevent flooding, Assoc Prof Bancha Kwanyuen, dean of engineering at Kasetsart University, told The Nation yesterday.

For example, the riverside dykes, instead of protecting the city, helped raised the river level and increase the current speed.

"I have seen that the Tha Chin River's bottleneck was not given attention and dredged by any authority to improve discharge capacity. They just dredged somewhere else, which was not the obstacle to flood drainage," he said.

Besides, the Bt120-billion scheme didn't link with the Bt350-billion water management and flood prevention scheme, which is undergoing public hearings before contracts can be signed with the four bid-winning contractors, he said.

Apichart Anukularmphai, chairman of the Water and Flood Management Commission's committee on academic affairs, said that although the Bt120-billion scheme had been completed, there was no agency to monitor the equipment and project effectiveness.

Suthep Noipairoj, deputy chief for operations and maintenance at the Irrigation Department, insisted the dykes and sluice gates built by his department along the Chao Phraya River could be used to prevent floods effectively.

"The dykes can still do their job in preventing floods this year," he said.

Maitree Pititanon, director of the Ayutthaya Irrigation Project, said all of the flood-handling equipment and civil works in the area were restored under the Bt120-billion scheme and could be used to prevent flooding.

For example, this year his agency diverted floodwater into the four retention areas covering over 100,000 rai of land - Thung Bang Ban 1, Thung Ban 2, Thung Phak Hai and Thung Maharat. The roads, now raised by more than three metres, were used as barriers to control the direction and block floodwaters, he added.

Deputy Transport Minister Pong Chewananth said his office spent over Bt7.5 billion to construct road networks to be used as flood embankments in Bangkok and nearby cities along both sides of the Chao Phraya River.

On the eastern bank, roads were elevated by over 50 centimetres above the 2011 flood level and a dyke was also installed along the roads.

The elevated roads covered the Pa Sak River, Southern Rapeepat Canal, Khlong 13 Canal and Eastern Rapeepat Canal.

On the western bank, the elevated road extended from the Phraya Banlue Canal to the Tha Chin River and Mahasawat Canal.

"The road construction is nearly completed and I'm sure they can be used to prevent floods this year," he said.

Sirichai Kunanopparat, former deputy director-general of the Water Resources Department, said the department had received Bt5.8 billion to improve the discharge capacity of water resources and purchase over 200 pumps to help drain water.

The infrastructure could be used to prevent floods, he said


-- The Nation 2013-10-08

[Tatsujin]

Most of the projects were completed and were said to be ready to tackle flooding, until the recent deluge proved otherwise.

No surprises there then. Get the Koreans in to do a Thai version of the 4-rivers project. Automate it all tho when it's finished please so that individual idiots don't screw up the master plan.

[klubex99]

Lets get this into perspective once and for all!

All this money that has been spent on anti-flood pet projects have been a total farcical joke that Laural and Hardy would find it tough to top.

2011 brought unprecedented deluges of rainfall that caused all the damage and misery.

Then all this money was spent and promises made.

fast forward to 2013.....

Much less rainfall than 2011, yet the floods are seemingly almost as worrying.... So what was all the money spent on?

Did they spend it all on retarding the system so much that the same chaos can be achieved with less rainfall??

Only Thailand..... only Thailand.

[yourauntbob]

Looks like the politicians took advantage of this giant slush fund. I bet most of the projects had little to do with protecting against flooding and more to do with fattening the pockets of certain business owners. I would also speculate that most of the money (45 billion) for flood victims went to politically connected "flood victims." Our neighborhood was flooded in 2011 and to the best of my knowledge we didnt even receive a bottle of water. I have a feeling that 45 billion was the equivalent of a stimulus package for Mercedes, Apple, and all the other companies the hi so's like to buy.

Edited October 8, 2013 by yourauntbob

[selftaopath]

Looks like the politicians took advantage of this giant slush fund. I bet most of the projects had little to do with protecting against flooding and more to do with fattening the pockets of certain business owners. I would also speculate that most of the money (45 billion) for flood victims went to politically connected "flood victims." Our neighborhood was flooded in 2011 and to the best of my knowledge we didnt even receive a bottle of water. I have a feeling that 45 billion was the equivalent of a stimulus package for Mercedes, Apple, and all the other companies the hi so's like to buy.

To The Shin clan and underlings it was a SUCCESS. They got richer.

[bkkgriz]

I would say the majority of the money went into people's pockets. No surprise we are seeing flooding again. Just wait until the pigs get to the 2 trillion baht trough. That will be a feeding frenzy like no other. Until the next one.

[Katipo]

The 7.9 billion needed to repair 'government building' looks more than a little suspicious me thinks.

[soi41]

The 7.9 billion needed to repair 'government building' looks more than a little suspicious me thinks.

Come on mate, be fair. They have to protect their new clocks and water-coolers!

[Emdog]

Quick glance seems to indicate that about 4% of the hog trough was spent on actual flood control????? I am looking for a humorous analogy.... something like having to keep painting inside walls of house because the roof leaks? Repair a car because keeps running into walls and such (Why not fix the brakes?). Thailand, thy name is Boggle. Hub of boggle.

[Mampara]

water, water every where, and not a drop to drink.

[LuckyLew]

The only questions would be who pocketed the most

[yourauntbob]

Looks like the politicians took advantage of this giant slush fund. I bet most of the projects had little to do with protecting against flooding and more to do with fattening the pockets of certain business owners. I would also speculate that most of the money (45 billion) for flood victims went to politically connected "flood victims." Our neighborhood was flooded in 2011 and to the best of my knowledge we didnt even receive a bottle of water. I have a feeling that 45 billion was the equivalent of a stimulus package for Mercedes, Apple, and all the other companies the hi so's like to buy.

To The Shin clan and underlings it was a SUCCESS. They got richer.

As much as I am sure they did, I find it hard to believe the opposition sat on the sidelines when the money was flowing. Just because you dont have a majority, doesnt mean you can't siphon off funds.

Edited October 8, 2013 by yourauntbob

[nong38]

Mend and make do, looks good but is useless, well in some cases not even that. Its no surprise that the floods are annual event just the ever increases fund to repair it again, its an open secret that the money goes where its supposed to and that is not flood prevention. Was there an anti corruption drive recently or do we have to wait for the next drive next year?

The sad part is that the flood victims will be told that it will be better next year, vote for us again and they do .

Edited October 8, 2013 by nong38

[kamahele]

I would be interested to see a list of what projects that have been completed (if any) and the cost. I couldn't even find usable flood information concerning roadways last week. My assistant ended up calling the local police stations to see if the roads were passable.

[ResX]

Fire fighting approach doesn't work when it comes dealing with floods. Flood management, mitigation and control is a close loop decision making. The "end of the horizon flood scenario" shall be determined first before putting any structure and control strategy to meet "end of the horizon flood scenario". Or to make it simple start with end in mind....

If water related authorities in Thailand fail miserably again and again in future, remember what I have written here. "End of the horizon flood scenario" has to be determined first or any attemt to deal with it will end tragic failure.

[tigermonkey]

"The projects included the restoration of damaged equipment and construction of dykes, sluice gates, pump stations and flood-prevention roads.

Most of the projects were completed and were said to be ready to tackle flooding"

There is/was a large ( 200 meter ?) flood control dam across the Ping River near Chom Thong. The western half of the dam was overwhelmed by the 2011 flooding and was literally swept away. In the 2 years since then, there has been sporadic activity at the dam site, but at this time, restoration work is less than 50% complete, and there is NO DAM. I submit this without comment as a report on the progress in the provinces.