PM:Cancellation of water discharge test in eastern BKK is to ease people's worries

BANGKOK, September 7 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says that her government's cancellation of a water discharge test in the eastern side of Bangkok on Friday is to ease people's worries, expressing her satisfaction, however, with a similar water drainage test in the western side of the capital on September 5. Yingluck told journalists this morning that widespread scattered downpours, with heavy falls in some areas, over the past couple of days prompted the government-appointed Water and Flood Management Committee (WFMC) to decide Thursday night to suspend the water dischage test in eastern Bangkok. Yingluck acknowledged that heavy downpours overnight showed that the existing water drainage system in the city has been improved but needs to be further boosted its efficiency, asking for public understanding that everything relies on weather conditions and the amount of rainfalls. According to the prime minister, although the water discharge test was only done in western Bangkok, it is beneficial for the further improvement of her administration's water management and flood prevention plans. The Thai premier said, however, that she has ordered the Ministry of Interior's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation to be well-prepared for providing immediate assistance to people living near waterways and other flood-prone areas in case there was any inundation. (TNA)