Cabinet to set up 3 Rehabilitation Panels on floods

The cabinet, at its weekly meeting on Tuesday, asked all ministers to visit flood victims in inundated areas immediately in order to listen to their needs.

The Flood Relief Operations Center’s public relations unit announced that the Cabinet advised the Minister of Education to rush to help flood-affected schools while Ministry of Transport will take charge of checking embankments to protect safe and dry zones. The cabinet also set up 3 rehabilitation panels including;

1. Infrastructure Renovation Panel, chaired by Transport Minister ACM Sukumpol Suwanatat, is responsible for restoring roads, water supply, electricity, schools and historical sites.

2. Economic Revival Panel, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong, is responsible for restoring economics, business sector, industry and agriculture, particularly in the post-flood period including monitoring tax payment measures.

3. Life and Social Rehabilitation Panel, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Pol Gen Kowit Wattana, is responsible for helping less privileged and unemployed people, providing mental health remedy and rehabilitating livelihood of all citizen.

As for the concern over the necessity for the state of emergency, the cabinet deemed it unnecessary at the moment as every sector is cooperating efficiently while a law on public disaster prevention and mitigation has already been enforced.