Daily Video Conferences to Cope with the Flood Situation

(26/09/2011)

Ministers responsible for dealing with the flood situation have been instructed to take turns chairing a video conference with governors of the affected provinces until the floods subside. The instruction was made by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who said that the video conference, to be held on a daily basis, would help speed up the solving of the flood problem affecting many provinces nationwide. The video conference is scheduled for 09.00-09.30 hr at Government House, linking with the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and the flood-hit provinces. Results of the conference will be used to assess the flood situation and to enable officials to handle it more effectively. The Director-General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Mr. Wiboon Sanguanpong, said that flooding has so far taken about 140 lives, and 23 provinces, mainly in the central region, continue to be affected. The flood situation in the upper part of the country has now improved, and floodwater in the Gulf of Thailand is on the decline. Prime Minister Yingluck also instructed all relevant agencies to speed up pushing floodwater out into the Gulf of Thailand. She assigned the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation to acquire more tugboats and mobile toilets in response to the needs of affected people. As for the provinces with world heritage sites, the Prime Minister asked provincial governors to pay special attention to protecting them from flood damage. She wanted agencies involved to work out a plan to help affected people in a systematic manner. The plan starts with the subdistrict level, which reports to the district level, and the district level reports to the provincial level. Then provincial authorities report to the central administration, which forwards the report to the Prime Minister. Efforts to ease the flood situation are based on the principles of “2P2R,” which stands for “preparation, response, recovery, and prevention.” Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyoot Wichaidit, in his capacity as Chairman of the Board for the Fund to Help Disaster Victims, chaired a meeting of the board members on 23 September 2011. The meeting agreed to offer compensation of 5,000 baht for each affected person who has lost a family member in the floods since 25 July 2011. Each family whose house has been damaged by floods and landslides will receive compensation of 240,000 baht. The money is to be spent on rebuilding a new house, which should be completed within two months after the floods subside. The meeting also told the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation to buy 5,000 small boats at a cost of not more than 25 million baht, to urgently ease the hardships of flood-hit people.