We do need foreign expert to solve our flood.

By Kim Tae-gyu

Korea looks set to win a significant part of a $30 billion deal to help Thailand recover from flood damage with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra inviting a senior government official here for consultations.

A source familiar with the issue said Wednesday that Shinawatra invited National River Restoration Office Minister Shim Myung-pil, who is in charge of Korea’s mega-sized four-river refurbishment project.

After suffering from unprecedented floods since this August, Thailand is coming up with a plan to prevent a recurrence.

Shim Myung-pil

Based on its experience and knowhow accumulated through the four-river project, which Korea has spent more than $20 billion since
2008, the country has strived to win all or parts of the Thai contract.

``Shinawatra invited Shim who will give a briefing on the river projects on Dec. 21. As far as we know, this is the first time for her office to invite any senior official for consultations from a nation hoping to win the Thai contract,’’ said the source asking not to be named.

``This should be a good sign for Korea. We think that Thailand regards Korea as one of the best partners to build up anti-flood infrastructure in the flood-prone country.’’

When contacted, a representative of Shim’s office admitted that he will take a flight to Bangkok midway through next week but refused to disclose any specific itinerary citing diplomatic protocol.

Shim was not available for comment but he also claimed that Thailand was seeking to benchmark the Korean experience.

``We are not sure whether we will be able to win the contract. If so, we are not sure either whether we will seal the whole deal or just part of it. But one thing certain is that Thailand is interested in our model,’’ Shim said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.

The flood-hit state sent two high-level delegations led by a foreign minister and a former prime minister in order to inspect the four-river project over a few days. Shim said that they expressed huge interest.

The Seoul administration has tried to revive the nation’s four major rivers by carrying out large-scale dredging and developing adjacent regions with the aim of finishing all the tasks by next year.

The work paid off in a handsome way this summer ― the four-river program lowered the water level of the rivers and caused minimum losses over the summer monsoon season despite unprecedented heavy rainfall.

``We demonstrated that we have the knack to control floods after just a few years. We have clear evidence and it should be very attractive. We hope things will go well so that the two countries cooperate in preventing future flood damage,’’ the source said.
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Year in year out we read and hear about the floods in the North and East Coast.
Only now Kuala Lumpur and Selangr are facing the same situation.
Even though there were many signs to suggest that we can expect daily flood from this month onward till 21st December 2012. No action has been taken. As usual the authorities will issue notice here and there but their butts still not moving.
Looks like Malaysia will need the expert Mr Shim Myung-pil to solve our flood since Putrajaya, KLIA and KLCC are going to be flooded within the next few days.
So those bangsat who claimed that only UMNO can stop the flooding in the North and East Coast and even give clean water better wash their mouths with clorox because Allah has proven them wrong.