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The Nation January 27, 2012 1:00 am
The Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management (SCWRM) has yet to lay down clear guidelines for flood prevention, even though it has approved a Bt350billion budget for the purpose, one of the committee members said yesterday.
Dr Smith Dhammasaroj, who heads the National Disaster Warning Council, said he had stopped attending SCWRM meetings. "I see no point in showing up because no one really listens to my advice," he said, adding that he had only attended three of the five SCWRM meetings.
Smith warned that in the face of the La Nina effect, the volume of rain would be as high this year as last.
"We should closely monitor how the government will be preparing to deal with the imminent flooding," he said, adding that so far, no canals have been dredged or any damaged sluice gates fixed.
Smith was speaking at a seminar held by the Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand (EMIT).
"The EMIT should start getting adequate lifesaving equipment ready," he emphasised.
On Wednesday, Pramote Maiklad - a former directorgeneral of the Royal Irrigation Department - also said there were no clear guidelines on dealing with floods in Bangkok and surrounding provinces and that the government had yet to come up with a waterresources management proposal.
He advised the government to follow His Majesty's suggestions, made in 1980, about designating floodways and green belts to protect the capital and its surrounding provinces from getting submerged.
Pramote said floodways - or water tunnels - were needed as a sustainable measure to prevent severe flooding in the lower parts of the Chao Phraya River basin.
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