Thai authorities speed up flood prevention

PITSANULOK, February 14 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has ordered serious flood prevention in all flood-prone areas, focusing on reforestation, warning systems and effective water drainage, as well as prevention of impacts from water discharge from dams to downstream areas. Yingluck gave her orders Tuesday at a flood prevention meeting with concerned Cabinet members and governors of 10 provinces in Pitsanulok Province in the Lower Thai North during her five-day upcountry trip to inspect flood-prone areas. The prime minister promised that her government will go ahead with royally-initiated reforestation projects, acknowledging that she has assigned the military to do the task in border areas and the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry in communities, forest reserves and national parks; while provincial governors have been told to use fast growing plants including vetiver grasses. The prime minister also called for effective flood warning systems and ordered Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut to base water discharges from dams on weather forecasts to prevent inundations in downstream areas. The Pheu Thai premier praised all parties concerned for joining forces with the government to prevent flooding in the future. (TNA)