BANGKOK, 19 February 2012 – The Transport Ministry is planning to speed up the restoration of all roads and canals in order to cope with possible flooding later this year.
Minister of Transport Charupong Ruangsuwan said on Saturday that his visit to Thailand’s lower Central Region in the past week has given him more ideas on the flood prevention.
Mr. Charupong said that he plans to execute the short-term prevention plan, involving the restoration of road surfaces and the dredging of canals, all of which are to be completed within 3-6 months or before the rainy season arrives.
Concerning the long-term prevention plan, the Transport Minister said that it involves the elevation of roads in order to allow them to act as a dyke, the back-up transport routes when roads are cut off by rain and floods.
He added that the Ministry has been allocated with a budget of THB10 billion to carry out the short-term projects, while it still awaits the decision of the Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management to approve parts of its THB300 billion budget to finance the long-term projects.
