EC says South floods will not delay polls

General News - Thursday December 20, 2007

EC says South floods will not delay polls

POST REPORTERS

Yala _ The Election Commission in Yala insisted yesterday that severe floods in the far South would not delay Sunday's elections in the region.

Election commissioner Sampan Musordi ruled out postponing the election due to the flooding and said poll officials would change the location of polling stations to flood-free areas.

Mr Sampan said the new venues would not be far from the old ones to ensure voters had no problems reaching them.

Even so, he conceded the floods could have an impact on voter turnout in inundated areas.

With only a few days left before the election, the province had done all it could to encourage people in the Muslim-majority provinces to vote, he said.

The EC has asked for help from religious leaders to encourage people to vote while university students have launched a door-to-door campaign to ensure a high turnout.

However, many districts in Yala remain flooded, especially Muang and Raman. In urban areas, many roads are still under water, while in Raman, large areas of farmland have been destroyed.

More than 26,000 people have been affected by the flooding in Yala and infrastructure, including 59 roads, has been damaged, officials said.

However, as long as the heavy rain holds off, the province expects to reopen 72 flooded schools this Monday, education officials said.

In Narathiwat, floods in some districts have begun to recede. Hundreds of villagers in the hardest-hit Sukhirin district, who were left stranded for two days as transport links were cut off, were able to travel to nearby districts yesterday.However, officials said severe flooding remained in six districts. The worst-affected ares are riverside communities hit by run-off from the San Kara Khiri mountain and waters from Malaysia.

Narathiwat Governor Karan Suppakitwilekhakan yesterday said the flooding was partly caused by road construction that had blocked natural waterways.

He planned to set aside part of next year's budget to build bigger sewers for more rapid drainage and to raise the level of roads in flood-prone areas. All this would help relieve flash floods in the province's 13 districts, he said.

Bangkok Post