NCPO to mull govt’s B350bn flood plan

NCPO to mull govt’s B350bn flood plan

Locals renew protests against water projects

The Office of the National Water and Flood Management Policy is preparing to submit the controversial 350-billion-baht water management project to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for consideration amid strong protests by activists who want it scrapped.

Apichart Anukul-ampai, head of an academic and analytical sub-panel under the Water and Flood Management Committee (WFMC), said the flood management policy office is ready to provide all information about the scheme to the NCPO.

The coup-making body will have the final say on whether the project will proceed.

He suggested that the NCPO immediately appoint a person to take up the vacant position of the WFMC chairman to get things going.

“The information we are going to submit to the NCPO is exactly the same to that we sent earlier to former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra,’’ he said.

"The details cover proposals on floodways, dam construction and water retention zones,” he added.

The water management project was initiated during Ms Yingluck’s government following the flood crisis in 2011 that caused hundreds of billions of baht worth of damage to the economy.

Local residents, who oppose the plan, fear their livelihood will be adversely affected.

They have spoken against the government’s plan to build floodways which will include extensive land expropriation.

People also oppose plans to built a dam in Mae Wong National Park in Nakhon Sawan province, Kaeng Sue Tan dam in Phare and water retention facilities in lower northern and central provinces.

Activists and residents who stand to be affected by the project have petitioned the Central Administrative Court, demanding the government stop the project.

This prompted the court to order a suspension of the signing of the contract, pending further public hearings.

Protests took place in many provinces including Phrae, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Songkram and Kanchanaburi during the public hearing process.

Hannarong Yaowalers, chairman of Thai-Water Partnership, opposing the project, said the NCPO should abolish the WFMC since the water management plan was wrongly designed from the beginning.

He said the scheme was mainly designed to tackle a flood crisis similar to that in 2011 but has ignored other water management aspects.

The NCPO should draw up a new plan that offers a more sustainable way to manage the country’s water resource with the participation of all stakeholders.

“The military will expose the country to more damage if it agrees with the 350 billion baht water management scheme as it will destroy natural resources and fail to prevent floods,” he said.

Suwathana Jittaladakorn, adviser to the Engineering Institute of Thailand’s (EIT) subcommittee on water resource engineering, said the 10 plans under the water scheme, which was drafted by the WFMC, should not be considered en bloc because some were still not ready.

Only those that are ready for implementation should be given the go-ahead such as the plan to construct the flood diversion system on the east side of the Chao Phraya River and a plan to repair broken water sluices, he said.

Other plans, particularly the construction of the flood diversion system on the west side of the river, was facing resistance from residents.

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