Gov. Wichit Chatpaisit.
Chonburi Public
Relation Department
Chonburi’s governor is blaming Sriracha’s residents
for October’s devastating floods that caused millions of baht in damage
and left some people homeless.
At a Feb. 4 meeting on the district’s flooding
problems, Gov. Wichit Chatpaisit said residents and businesses near
Sriracha’s flood-control canals had illegally blocked or obstructed
water flow. Had they not done so, he maintains, the flooding would not
have occurred.
He said a task force of provincial bureaucrats,
private-sector and community representatives found in one case someone
had constructed a road across one canal, blocking water from escaping.
Wichit did acknowledge the area’s flooding problems
did warrant government improvements, saying the province has allocated
up to 5 million baht this year to integrate the water systems of
Sriracha, Panthong and Panatnikom districts where flooding occurs every
year.
