BANGKOK, Sept 3 — Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Monday ordered closed circuit television monitors (CCTVs) installed to monitor flood testing for Bangkok residents, stressing that the tests would be carried out carefully and the operation would stop immediately if problems occurred.
Ms Yingluck said that she has assigned the panel responsible for the test to clarify details of the trials to the public to ease worry among Bangkok residents and instructed the agencies concerned to install more CCTVs and display water level scales so the public can also view the test.
The government said it would release water into Bangkok to test the flood prevention system on Wednesday and Friday this week.
Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi who chairs the Water Resources Management and Flood Control Committee earlier said the test run will be conducted in western and eastern Bangkok to prepare for northern runoff in October.
Ms Yingluck said that the test could help the government evaluate the effectiveness of the canals on the western and eastern sides of the capital.
She assured the public that the test run would be conducted carefully, the water would not be relased over the capacity of the canals. The operation would stop if the volume of water exceeds the limit.
The premier declined to comment on whether the issue was politicsed, saying that the government only wanted to test run the canal network system regarding water drainage.
The process was an unprecedented event so it caused worry among the public, she said, adding that she was confident the economic areas would be protected this year.
She said the government would report the result of the testing to the public.
