Thai industrial estates officially funded for anti-flood dykes

BANGKOK, July 30 (TNA) - Five major Thai industrial estates will be officially funded for their construction of permanent anti-flood dykes to prevent any repeated inundation, in the wake of the country's flooding crisis late last year. Veerapong Chaiperm, Governor of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), told journalists Monday that his agency expects to disburse the first batch of the official financial support to the five industrial estates within 30 days. The Thai Cabinet has earlier approved a state budget of some 3.2 billion baht to sponsor about two-thirds of the construction costs of the permanent flood prevention dykes at the five industrial estates, including Navanakorn, Bang Pa-in, Bang Kradi, Rojana and Ban Wa (Hi-Tech). Veerapong acknowledged that the exact amount of the first disbursement depends on progress of the dyke construction, and that his agency has already inspected the dyke construction at three industrial estates and will do so at Rojana and Ban Wa industrial estates soon. According to the IEAT chief, the construction has not yet started at the Saharattananakorn industrial estate, but it plans to spend some 30 million baht on elevating its existing six-kilometer flood prevention dykes, with the task expected to be complete by late September 2012 if started in mid-August. Besides, the Cabinet has approved another state budget of some 3.54 billion baht to finance the IEAT's investment plan on the construction of permanent flood prevention dykes for Thai industrial estates, with the IEAT's own task expected to be started by late August or by September 2012 and complete by March 2013. Pending the construction completion, the IEAT will, in case of any emergency, spend some 160 million baht on procuring temporary flood prevention systems for the Thai industrial estates with a combined distance of 30 kilometers. (TNA)