BANGKOK, 15 September 2011 – The government will set up a national-level committee comprising top officials from five ministries to administer water management in 25 river basins of the country.
Minister of Science and Technology Plodprasop Suraswadi said the Cabinet is looking for a special strategy to deal with floods and expects to be able to push flood water into the sea within 15 days from now. He said a national committee chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will be appointed soon to directly oversee water management and disaster warning systems throughout the country.
The committee will comprise members from the Ministries of Interior, Science and Technology, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Natural Resources and Environment, and Information and Communication Technology. Minister Plodprasop will act as deputy chairperson of the committee. The panel will draw up guidelines to manage water in the country’s river basins. It will start working once Prime Minister Yingluck signs her approval to the establishment of the committee.
The minister said he was assigned to handle flood situation in Nonthaburi and Nakhon Sawan provinces where 700,000 rai of farmland had already been submerged in water, the worst flood condition in 50 years. The minister will make on-the-spot visits to Nonthaburi on Friday and Nakhon Sawan during the weekend, to listen to people’s hardship for use in the formulation of flood solutions.
The government last night held a fund-raising campaign for flood victims on state television stations, during which 360 million baht was totally raised.
