New Thai government to systematically address floods

BANGKOK, August 15 (TNA) - New Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Monday that her administration plans to resolve the problem of repeated floods in Thailand in both short term and long term.

Yingluck told reporters that the short term plans include those to be urgently implemented to relieve the plight of flood victims and to rehabilitate flood-borne losses and other subsequences, including repairing local people's houses, buildings and basic infrastructure and offering immediate assistance to households whose members are killed or injured or whose farmlands or businesses are damaged during any inundation.

For the long term, the Pheu Thai premier said that her administration will discuss and work together with all parties concerned to address flood-related problems from their root-causes, including those concerning systematic water management through an irrigation master plan to be comprehensively implemented nationwide.

The first female Thai prime minister insisted, however, that her government will prioritise measures to resolve the problem of repeated floods in the long run in order to efficiently utilise state budgets phase by phase.

The new premier's remarks followed her visits to flood-hit areas in the Thai North and Northeast last weekend to inspect the situation. (TNA)