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107638
Sat, 02/20/2010 - 15:19
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Poll: Majority of respondents want army to stop using GT200 bomb detector
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BANGKOK, Feb 20 (TNA) -- More than half the total respondents to the latest Dusit Poll want the Thai army to cease using the GT200 bomb detector, especially in the violence-plagued South, due to the inefficiency of the equipment.
The poll was conducted among 1,260 people nationwide, especially in the three troubled southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, between February 17-19 in which 52.38 per cent of the total respondents said security officials should stop using the machine due to its inefficiency. They said the government should not place the lives of innocent people at risk in testing and the equipment is not worth the money spent on buying it.
Only one in four persons nationwide -- 25.71 per cent of the respondents -- said security personnel should continue using the controversial equipment, imported from Britain, as the military itself has confirmed that the GT200 bomb detector is efficient.
Two out of five -- 39.23 per cent -- said they were doubted the efficiency of the device due to different data from the government and the army, while another one in five -- 19.82 per cent -- wants to see a probe into the equipment’s provision.
The poll was conducted after Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Anupong Paochinda said on Thursday that the device is still being used in the insurgency-impacted southern border region, saying the government has not banned its use and has provided no alternative device to operational officers in the field.
But Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he has asked Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan to clarify the matter to the operational military personnel and speed up adjusting field operations to proceed without the use of the GT200.
The army chief and the premier's comments were made after the tests conducted by the Ministry of Science and Technology showed that the device can efficiently detect the bomb only four out of 20 times -- 20 per cent of the time -- even less than totally random results. (TNA)
The poll was conducted among 1,260 people nationwide, especially in the three troubled southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, between February 17-19 in which 52.38 per cent of the total respondents said security officials should stop using the machine due to its inefficiency. They said the government should not place the lives of innocent people at risk in testing and the equipment is not worth the money spent on buying it.
Only one in four persons nationwide -- 25.71 per cent of the respondents -- said security personnel should continue using the controversial equipment, imported from Britain, as the military itself has confirmed that the GT200 bomb detector is efficient.
Two out of five -- 39.23 per cent -- said they were doubted the efficiency of the device due to different data from the government and the army, while another one in five -- 19.82 per cent -- wants to see a probe into the equipment’s provision.
The poll was conducted after Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Anupong Paochinda said on Thursday that the device is still being used in the insurgency-impacted southern border region, saying the government has not banned its use and has provided no alternative device to operational officers in the field.
But Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he has asked Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan to clarify the matter to the operational military personnel and speed up adjusting field operations to proceed without the use of the GT200.
The army chief and the premier's comments were made after the tests conducted by the Ministry of Science and Technology showed that the device can efficiently detect the bomb only four out of 20 times -- 20 per cent of the time -- even less than totally random results. (TNA)