Japan to help Thailand plan long-term flood prevention

BANGKOK, November 9 (TNA) - Japanese Ambassador to Thailand Seiji Kojima said on Wednesday that the Japanese government and private sector are ready to help Thailand plan long-term flood prevention. The Japanese top envoy suggested that Thailand would have to come up with reliable flood prevention plans, noting that experts from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) would soon advise relevant Thai agencies on rehabilitation in the wake of floods, efficient use of reservoirs and large-scaled flood prevention systems. The ambassador insisted that Japanese investors have not planned to relocate their production bases from Thailand and are waiting for effective and long-term flood prevention measures in the country to protect not only local industrial estates and their workers, but also nearby communities from flooding in the future. According to the Japanese ambassador, Tokyo has initially granted a first-phase financial assistance of 22 million baht to Thailand, together with water pumps, and will soon send the second-phase financial support of one billion yen; while Japanese public and private agencies are also ready to offer additional assistance to Thailand to further strengthen bilateral relations and to return the favour to Thai people who had helped Japan following twin disasters of massive earthquake and tsunami in March this year. Meanwhile, JICA expert Takeya Kimio told Thai News Agency (TNA) that the Thai government needs to invest in large-scaled and costly flood prevention systems, with cooperation from local administrative organizations and communities, pointing out that Thailand's ongoing flooding crisis resulted from the country's rapid economic development with flood prevention measures lagged behind. Kimio recommended three basic solutions for successful disaster relief, including affected people first help themselves, local communities lend a helping hand and the central government offers assistance, saying that the three solutions should take place simultaneously. (TNA)