Water resources bill 'insufficient'

Nesac : Fails to tackle management problems

By Piyaporn Wongruang

The water resources bill should be reviewed before being sent for cabinet approval as it fails to sufficiently tackle water management problems, the National Economic and Social Advisory Council (Nesac) says. Phairoj Pholphet, a member of Nesac's science and natural resources panel, said the bill gives the civil sector almost no chance to take part in water management.

The national water resources committee set up under the bill has only four seats for the civil sector, compared to 17 for governmental agencies, he said.

The bill also fails to give a clear procedure for drafting and integrating water management plans at different levels. It was also written in a way that could create work overlaps between government officials and river basin committees, he said.

''There is no clear direction on who should do what, and for what,'' Mr Phairoj told a meeting on Friday to look at the bill.

Feedback from the Nesac-run meeting will be sent to Deputy Prime Minister Kosit Panpiemras, chairman of the Water Resources Committee.

The bill, drafted by the Water Resources Department, has been through nine public hearing sessions since it was first issued five years ago. It is now tipped for interim government approval.

Panel member Harnnarong Yaowalert, of Wildlife Fund Thailand, said the bill as it stood would not help solve water management problems.

He said the bill focuses too much on proper use of water, but ignores the more serious problem of poor integration of work between agencies.

Bangkok Post
Sunday February 11, 2007