Thai PM vows punishment after logging which led to deadly floods ( AFP ) September 7, 2002


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Thai PM vows punishment after logging which led to deadly floods

BANGKOK, Sept 7 (AFP)

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Saturday blamed illegal logging for the death and destruction caused by recent floods and mudslides in northern Thailand, and vowed to punish officials he said were responsible.

At least 41 people, including 16 mainly Karen refugees, have died over the past five weeks in massive floods that have wreaked havoc across the north and northeastern regions of Thailand, according to the interior ministry.

"It is clear that forests in watershed areas had been massively depleted over a long period, causing soil and logging to be washed away with flood waters," Thaksin said in a weekly radio address."I want to blame those selfish people who illegally encroach and cut logs, especially in watershed areas, and particularly those who are government officials," he said."My administration will employ decisive measures against them," he said, though he did not identify any officials.

Thaksin pointed to the worst disaster since the flooding began, in Mae Hong Son province, where 16 refugees were killed Monday when a mudslide and flash floods swept through the Ban Sala camp on the Thai-Myanmar border.Twelve people there remain unaccounted for and are presumed dead.

Most of the dead in the camp had been killed by large trees toppled over by floods cascading down the mountainside, causing land slippages and damaging hundreds of makeshift homes and buildings including hospitals, churches and schools.

Thai authorities had blamed the disaster on illegal logging carried out by the mostly Karen refugees, hired by timber dealers to cut down trees growing in a nearby national forest reserve.But on Friday the refugees blamed the disaster on unscrupulous Thai businessmen operating in the area.

The flooding, in some locations the worst in 40 years, swamped 51 of 76 provinces nationwide, with 33 provinces still inundated, according to the interior ministry's civil defense department.Over 760,000 people have been affected, with more than 1,400 roads, 66 bridges and 265 reservoirs damaged, 628,329 acres (251,300 hectares) of farmland inundated and 118,087 livestock killed.The economic damage was estimated at 265.2 million baht (6.3 million dollars).Illegal logging is routinely blamed for flash floods and mudslides in Thailand despite a nationwide logging ban in place since the late 1980s.

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