The super agency and the little people of Ayutthaya

The Cabinet on Tuesday set up a "super body" to integrate the activities of all 16 government agencies related to water, flooding and drought under a single command. That's a big story.

But, to me, a bigger story was out there in the field. On the same day, local villagers in certain Ayutthaya districts went into renewed panic mode as a heavy downpour pushed the water level once again to 30-40 centimetres, raising the spectre of last year's disastrous inundation once again.

The immediate question is: How does a huge structure at the national level pacify hard-hit local people in all the central provinces? How can local people have confidence in the government preventing a recurrence of the 2011 flooding?

And will tomorrow's big party to "thank" those who helped the Flood Relief Operations Centre (Froc) fight the flood send the wrong message that the highly controversial and ineffective operation by the "central command" at the time should be commended - and repeated?

The gap between the national-level political super-structure and local communities' genuine concern remains a big issue that has yet to be resolved.

Cabinet's decision to form the new super agency is supposed to enhance efficiency and ensure that one single command will direct flood-fighting activities. The new body is called the National Water Resources and Flood Policy Committee (NWRFPC). It is headed by the prime minister herself.

The recently appointed Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management (SCWRM) headed by the premier (with Dr Sumet Tantivejjakul as chief adviser) will now become an advisory board.

I am not sure where the other much-heralded committee - the Strategic Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development (SCRF), headed by Dr Virabongsa Ramangkura - will be placed in the new structure. I couldn't find it listed anywhere in the new hierarchical chart.

Under that body is the Water Resources and Flood Management Committee (WRFMC). This will be headed by a deputy prime minister.

Then there is also the Office of the National Water Resources and Flood Policy Committee (ONWRFPC).

It has been explained to me that the new "super body" serves like a board of directors in a business corporation while the second-tier WRFMC will play the role of executive committee.

And the third-tier Secretariat Office of the NWRFPC is where all the 16 government agencies relevant to water in one way or another will actually gather. Obviously, they are supposed to follow instructions from the "executive committee", which will in turn formulate their action plans according to the policies laid down by the top super body.

Confused? My question from real life is: Once that new structure is in place, how does the situation in Ayutthaya reported last week get resolved?

District Officer Rewat Ampawanond of Amphur Sena, Ayutthaya province, told a local radio station: "Flood water was about 30-40 centimetres at Tambon Huawiang, Sena district yesterday, although the rainy season hasn't arrived. That's because of the unseasonable heavy downpour two days ago. It had nothing to do with water being released from the Bhumibol Dam and Chao Phraya Dam as had been speculated earlier."

He said Sena and Pakhai districts in this central province are located in low-lying areas. Local villagers had been adjusting their agricultural activities to the natural environment, and rice farming was done only once a year for a five-month period. For the remaining seven months of the year, they would turn the farmland into natural water-holding reservoirs.

In other words, despite lessons learned from last year's serious flooding, local people have yet to be assured that the national government is capable of understanding their basic concern - and that any overhaul of the organisational structure will be effective enough to instil confidence all the way down to the village level.

The flood victims, old and new, obviously couldn't care less about how the new and old committees will deal with the confusing chain of command. They want a simple answer to the Bt350 billion question: Can 2012 be flood-free for us?

The litmus test will come soon enough - perhaps in the next few weeks.