Cabinet Approves Additional Budget To Assist Flood Victims In The North

[Jai Dee]

Cabinet approves additional budget to assist flood victims in the North

Deputy Spokesperson of the Prime Minister's Office Danuporn Punnagun (ดนุพร ปุณณกันต์) disclosed that the Cabinet has approved an additional budget of 818 million baht to assist the flood victims in the five Northern provinces.

He added that the budget would be a total of 3,225 million baht together with the previous budget allocated at 2,407 million baht on 6th of June 2006.

As for the summary of disaster from the severe flood on the 16th of June, Mr. Danuporn said that Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation has summarized that there are 87 deaths, 29 people missing and 708 households were totally damaged by the situation while 3,979 were slightly damaged.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 28 June 2006

[Jai Dee]

PM Thaksin to call for a meeting with directors of government units as to assist flood victims

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will call a meeting with the directors of different government agencies, provincial governors and commanders, so he could inform them about the policies and responsibilities of the caretaker government. Related agencies will also be assigned to work on the disaster warning systems.

The Spokesman to the Prime Minister's Office, Dr. Surapong Suebwonglee (สุรพงษ์ สืบวงศ์ลี), revealed that the meeting is scheduled to be held tomorrow at the Government House at 14:30 hours. Dr. Surapong has also been assigned to call a meeting with related agencies regarding the disaster warning systems, namely the Meteorological Department, the Royal Irrigation Department, the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment. The surveys of Department of Mineral Resources have indicated that there are 2,807 risky areas that may encounter landslides.

The Interior Ministry has installed equipment for measuring the amount of rainfall so people would be warned about the forthcoming natural disaster. The Royal Irrigation Department has been urged to manage water resources to prevent flood issues.

Moreover, the Cabinet has approved a budget of 818 million baht to assist the flood victims in northern region and has also granted a budget of 30 million baht to the Education Ministry to restore flood-stricken schools in the 10 southern provinces.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 28 June 2006