Bt500m sought for road repairs
The Transport Ministry is requesting an additional budget of Bt500 million to Bt1 billion to repair roads damaged by the recent floods, permanent secretary Chaisawasd Kittipornpaiboon said yesterday.
Chaisawasd said there were about 90 roads in 25 provinces that need urgent restoration. The ministry also plans to ban large trucks from using certain badly damaged roads which were severely eroded by heavy flooding in the provinces of Ayutthaya, Angthong and Sing Buri, particularly the Pamok-Sena Highway. Heavy trucks will be asked to avoid these roads as the their softened surfaces might cause them to sink. Alternative routes are now being arranged. The repair cost will be added to the proposed 2007 budget of Bt70.5 billion for the Highways Department. Heading a ministry that has often been criticised for corruption, Chaisawasd - former director-general of the Highways Department who became a dark-horse candidate to lead the ministry - promised greater transparency, clearer guidelines in the bidding process, and accountability to the public, in line with the government's sufficiency-economy policy. Also, in response to falling oil prices, a committee has been formed to study whether it is viable to reduce the cost of public transport.
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