A SENATOR asked whether the government has a plan to deal with the flooding problem worsening due to Malaysia having started building a border wall at Kelantan state opposite Thailand’s Narathiwat province and abutting Sungai Kolok river, Naewna newspaper said.
Mr. Chaiyong Meerungsakul, a senator who came from the media industry and is a member of the Senate Committee on Military and State Security, said the Malaysian government has allocated 1.5 billion ringgit (11 billion baht) to construct a permanent border wall along the Thai-Malaysian border opposite Tak Bai and Su-ngai Kolok districts of Narathiwat province.
The initial phase, covering a distance of 45km, has begun with the demolition of 250 natural border crossings, which could be referred to as illegal crossings, at Pengkalan Kupor subdistrict, opposite Tak Bai district, that were used by the people of both countries to slip in and out without having to pass through immigration control.
It will take another two months to demolish the illegal piers that border residents of both countries have been using.
The Kelantan government announced that it will take two years to construct the permanent wall opposite Tak Bai and Su-ngai Kolok districts to prevent cross-border crime, drug trafficking, illegal labour moving in and out, and smuggling of goods from Thailand. The structure will also prevent flooding caused by water overflowing Su-ngai Kolok river during the rainy season, which causes significant damage in Kelantan.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Dato’ Mohammad Yusof Mamat, commissioner of the Kelantan Police, oversaw the demolition of the piers and the start of the construction on Oct. 28.
Chaiyong pointed out that the demolition of natural crossing points is beneficial for Thailand too as it impedes illegal grey businesses such as drug and rubber smuggling, human and arms trafficking, plus smuggling of other goods from the Thai side. It will also make it more difficult for contraband goods to flow from Malaysia to Thailand, such as oil, alcohol, cigarettes and E-cigarettes. Importantly, the permanent border wall will block cross-border activities by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) separatist militia.
However there is a negative consequence with this being worsening flooding every rainy season. Water flowing down Sankalakhiri mountain range that forms a natural barrier between the two countries flows into Su-ngai Kolok river and will now only flood Narathiwat with the border wall sparing Kelantan.
Every year villages bordering the Su-ngai Kolok river experience severe flooding with floodwaters reaching the roof of a single-storey house. Once the border wall is built, inundation will severely impact several districts in this province.
Chaiyong said this is a major issue that the government and agencies in charge of flood prevention have to look into and work out a plan to deal with beforehand and not wait for problems to arise then consider solutions.
CAPTIONS:
This and Front Page – Destruction of natural border crossings along the border at Malaysia’s Kelantan state.
Insert – Senator Chaiyong Meerungsakul. All photos – Naewna
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