Inquiry needed to clear muddied waters

With the floodwaters finally abating, now is the time to start thinking about what went wrong and how issues can be addressed at both the national and city levels.

As part of that process, an independent commission of inquiry should be established to determine with clarity and credibility what led to the crisis and what lessons can be learned from its management or mismanagement.

The public has grown weary (and even distrustful) of the confusing messages that emanated from the Flood Relief Operations Command (Froc), the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and various government agencies.

Politicians and senior officials at both national and city levels have also done little to bolster their public standing _ at times, self-aggrandizing, ignorant or misinformed about the true situation, and exchanging barbs as if they were involved in a schoolyard scuffle rather than genuinely addressing the problems of their constituents. Crocodile tears during the year of the great flood just haven't washed with the public.

The national government has already announced two panels in response to the disaster; one to formulate strategies to rehabilitate and rebuild the nation, the other to draw up water-management strategies to cope with future floods.

Both panels are largely made up of industry, commerce and banking representatives, ministers, technocrats and various experts.

But before the country looks forward it must look back, and an independent inquiry is the only way to do this. In the context of weather patterns and climate change as well as the efficacy of current water management infrastructure and government policy, the inquiry should look at the performance of officials and leaders during the crisis.

There are many theories and rumours as to why the nation's capital, and economic heart, was at the mercy of the rushing waters for such a lengthy period. First, the inquiry should establish how more than 40 dams north of Bangkok came to be at bursting point.

There is much speculation about dark manoeuvring by local political power brokers that stopped the release of water when it was still feasible to do so.

These dams are managed by the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) and Egat, which should hold detailed records of their capacity and when the waters were released.

Despite the Egat governor's claim there was no mismanagement, relevant officials should be asked to explain their decisions on why the waters were held back until it was too late.

The Office of the Auditor General has already found fault with the fiscal side of water management in the country's 25 river basins in a report it released late last month. The agency said 160 billion baht allocated for projects from 2005-2009 lacked unified direction.

As the waters advanced to Bangkok, the panic increased and so did the general confusion. There were consistently conflicting statements by both Froc and the BMA on the threat levels, and in the end a jaded public became so wary of these bodies that a great number of people turned to independent websites to get information.

 After stories of flawed strategies, different areas of responsibility, angry locals opening sluice gates, killer snakes and crocodiles, we finally came to the crux of the dispute _ not enough water pumps and pumps being broken.

It would not have been that hard a problem to solve if all the political posturing was put aside. That said, the public would like to know how Froc and the BMA operated during this process along with other agencies.

There must be minutes of meetings and documents of communications. There must be also credible people to attest to how our leaders and officials performed under pressure when making important decisions. Is it possible to take a peek behind the green door of bureaucracy?

Inquiries were launched after a similar disaster in the US. The Hurricane Katrina probe splintered into various inquiries and resulted in the arrest of some police officers.

In Australia a commission investigated last year's floods in Queensland, and while finding some fault with the engineers, made the point that the flood control master plan may have shortcomings.

Thailand has a poor track record on independent commissions, which are often stalled until public amnesia takes over or are too weak to compel key players to testify.

But so serious is the long-term water management problem that an inquiry should be empowered to set the wheels of reform in motion. The only other option is to pray that it won't rain as heavily next year.