The government is in the process of drawing up a “transparent” 2015-26 water-management plan and has approved a 56-billion-baht budget to tackle floods and water shortages next year.
There are about 10,000 projects under the massive long-term water management plan, which will be financed mainly by the annual budget rather than special fund sources, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Gen Prayut said all projects will be jointly examined by multiple working panels from several government agencies, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), independent organisations and civic groups to ensure transparency in budget spending.
A large scheme of more than one billion baht would be managed under the guidelines laid down by the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST), an international non-profit organisation founded in 2011, he said.
The projects slated for 2015 will be financed by loans (40 billion baht) and the 2015 contingency budget (16 billion baht).
The approved 4,224 water projects to be implemented by eight ministries will initially focus on areas prone to repeated floods in the North, Northeast and Central Plains, the prime minister added.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/453154/cabinet-approves-b56bn-water-projects
