Police drop plans for Din Daeng

General News - Saturday December 15, 2007

HOUSING / RESIDENTS PROTEST

Police drop plans for Din Daeng

ANJIRA ASSAVANONDA

The Royal Thai Police yesterday held back discussing an emergency plan for the possible collapse of the deteriorating Din Daeng flats amid uproar by residents, who complained that the plan was to justify the demolition of the old buildings.

National police chief Seripisuth Temiyavej earlier ordered his subordinates to prepare a rescue plan for the Din Daeng flats in case a building collapses.

He became concerned after a report was released by the national disaster prevention and mitigation committee, which referred to the findings of engineering institutions that the buildings were in a deteriorating state and no longer safe to live in.

The draft rescue plan was finished and the agency hosted a meeting of involved parties at Din Daeng police station yesterday to discuss the plan.

Vacharapol Prasarnratchakij, assistant to the national police chief, chaired the meeting which was attended by representatives from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

However, a group of Din Daeng residents disrupted the meeting, claiming the buildings are still safe.

Ratcharoek Paorohit, one of the protest leaders against the NHA's plans to demolish the buildings, urged the police to handle the issue more carefully.

''People have panicked after hearing about the police emergency plan. Some claimed ulterior motives were behind the move, or that the police might be joining the NHA in the planned demolition of the flats,'' said Mr Ratcharoek.

He urged the police to study in detail the conclusions by the Council of Engineers and the Engineering Institute of Thailand, which indicated the buildings can still be repaired.

Apichart Halamjiak, a former MP for Din Daeng district, urged police to suspend the meeting as the issue of the Din Daeng flats was sensitive and had often been politicised by election candidates in the past. Also, residents are concerned there will be an attempt to politicise the issue ahead of the Dec 23 election, he said.

''If improperly handled, the conflict could be intensified and might even disrupt the Dec 23 polls. There's only nine days left and I think it's better to suspend any moves involving the Din Daeng flats until the election finishes,'' he said.

Giving in to the residents, Pol Lt-Gen Vacharapol decided to hold back the emergency plan to avoid any further problems. He conceded the timing of the meeting was bad and promised the plan won't be implemented without the residents' consent.

He insisted, however, that police had no motive behind the emergency plan. He said the police were only concerned about people's safety, and that the agency had nothing to do with the demolition or repair of the flats.

The officer pointed out that the plan was just a guideline for the police and other involved organisations, who needed to cooperate in case of an emergency.

Bangkok Post