The prime minister's new challenge

• Published: 8/02/2012 at 05:10 PM  
    

As head of a super committee charged with water resources management and flood prevention, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has accepted a real challenge which will prove against her critics that she is more than just a pretty face with a sense of high fashion.

As head of the super committee charged with water resources management and flood prevention, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has accepted a real challenge, a chance to prove to her critics that she is more than just a pretty face with a sense of high fashion.
A few days ago, five provinces were declared drought affected by the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department. They are Kamphaeng Phet, Lamphun and Sukhothai in the North, Loei in the Northeast and Chanthaburi in the eastern region.

The department said that altogether 1,413 villages in 45 districts in the five provinces are affected because they have no access to the irrigation system.

The flood has returned to Ayutthaya's Sena district on Feb 8, 2012. (Photo POST TODAY)

Meanwhile in Sena district of Ayutthaya province, riverside residents found to their dismay and shock yesterday that the flood has returned to their homes already, despite the fact that this is just the beginning of the hot season.

One of the affected residents, 71-year old Lamyong Sanyasarn, told Matichon newspaper that he had been able to live a normal life for about two months since the last flood receded. His house, which is close to Noi river, now has water about 30cm deep.

He admitted that he was puzzled there was flood in the dry season and wondered whether this year’s flooding would be worse than last year’s.
Overflowing of the Noi and Chao Phraya rivers, which has resulted in flooding in low-lying areas in Sena district of Ayutthaya, was caused by the discharges of water from Bhumibol dam in Tak province and Sirikit dam in Uttradit province.

At the instruction of the Strategic Formulation Committee for Water Resources Management, water has been released from the two dams since last December in order to reduce the volume of water stored in the reservoirs to 45 percent of capacity so that there will be space to store water during the rainy season, when at least three storms are expected this year. At present about 60 million cubic metres of water is being discharged from the Bhumibol dam.

The flooding in Sena district is unusual for this time of the year and the drought in the five provinces are the twin challenges confronted by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in her new capacity as head of the newly established the National Water Resources Policy and Flood Committee.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (Photo by Somchai Poomlard)

But after last year’s Big Flood, the real challenge, which is also the top priority issue, is the flood problem rather than the drought problem.

The committee which will take charge of managing water resources and tackling flooding will be assisted by the Strategic Formulation Committee for Water Resources Management which will serve as the advisory body and a committee, the Water Resources Management and Flood Committee.

As head of the super committee for water management and flood prevention, the prime minister is put in a hot seat that will prove her leadership and competency. If she succeeds in preventing flooding this year or in mitigating the impacts of another flood to the minimum - if it is inevitable because of Mother Nature rather than human error - then she will receive due credit and public recognition.
But if she fails, she will have to bear all the blame herself and all the consequences bearing in mind that another flood as bad as last year’s will not be acceptable.

But the job is a real challenge that she should not second to any cabinet minister. Having previously placed Justice Minister Pracha Promnok as head the discredited Flood Relief Operations Command, which proved to be a disaster, should serve a good lesson.

Having accepted the challenge, I wish her luck and success. After all, nobody wants another great flood after having witnessed or experienced last year’s crisis.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/278881/the-prime-minister-new-challenge