Japan Ambassador happy with flood prevention at industrial estate

BANGKOK, September 24 (TNA) - Japanese Ambassador to Thailand Seichi Kojima has expressed his satisfaction with the progress of the construction of a flood prevention dyke at the Saharattana Nakorn Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya province in the central Thai region. Kojima expressed his view at a meeting with Thai Industry Minister M.R. Pongsvas Svasti in Bangkok Monday when he also thanked Thailand and the Industry Ministry for taking care of the construction of the temporary flood prevention dyke at the Saharattana Nakorn Industrial Estate, which has now been over 35 per cent complete. The Board of Investment of Thailand or BOI, meanwhile, reported that Japanese investment projects have, since the beginning of this year, have sought the BOI's promotional privileges worth around 300-400 billion baht. Meanwhile, Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) Governor Veerapong Chaiperm said that the IEAT would take 30 days to inspect the progress of the construction of permanent dykes at local industrial sites in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani provinces to see whether or not they are in accordance with IEAT standards, if not, IEAT would cut financial support to the specific industrial sites whose permanent flood prevention dykes are sub-standards. Veerapong acknowledged that IEAT plans to launch an emergency response drill, covering measures to prevent and deal with floods, based on critical benchmarks namely water levels deemed unsafe which should prompt the evacuation of people in areas at risk to safe place and a temporary halt of affected production lines. (TNA)