Most flooded plants back to normal before year-end: Kittirat

BANGKOK, Dec 2 - More than 90 per cent of the plants within and outside the seven submerged industrial estates will resume operation before the end of December, Deputy Prime Minister/Commerce Minister Kittirat Na Ranong said on Friday.

Mr Kittirat told reporters the industry ministry informed him that restoration at the submerged industrial estates has significantly progress. Floodwater has been drained out of each estate's compound and most plants have repaired their machinery.

"The government believed that 90 per cent of those plants would be able to resume output before year-end," Mr Kittirat said.

Meanwhile, four factories in the Rojana Industrial Park resumed production and many factories have conducted cleaning after floodwaters entirely receded Dec 1, according to Witthaya Lueanglueyot, senior general manager of Rojana Industrial Park.

The rest of the plants are expected to restart operations after the New Year, he said.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will visit Rojana Industrial Park on Sunday to give moral support for entrepreneurs.

Phase Three Rojana Industrial Park accommodates about 230 factories. It has spent about Bt80 million for flood prevention and restoration in Thailand’s flood crisis, worst in decades.

To prevent flooding in the future, Mr Witthaya said Rojana plans to build a concrete dyke six metres high above mean sea level and 67km long, costing Bt30 million per kilometre.

As it needs Bt2 billion baht to undertake the work, it will seek a government loan at a special interest rate of 0.1 per cent for seven years.

To invest in the flood prevention wall, a common infrastructure charge will be collected from all factories, with an increase of its common fee from 800 baht per rai to 3,800 baht.

With the plan to be put in place, so far no factories have wanted to relocate to other industrial estates, the Rojana executive said.

Mr Wittaya conceded flooding has an impact on decisions of prospective investors to buy into the third-phase of the project, saying it depends on the government if it can come up with reliable and effective flood-prevention plans to regain confidence from investors.

To build confidence among other entrepreneurs and investors, he advised that state enterprises should not withdraw their factories from Rojana. 

His statement addressed concerns raised by a news report that the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly is planning to shift its plant from Rojana Industrial Park and Ayutthaya.

Infrastructure services such as electricity and ground water in the Rojana facility resumed service, but tap water will not be available for another 25 days.

Meanwhile, the waste water treatment system is being repaired and all infrastructure facilities will be in use by the end of this year, he said.

Rojana Industrial Park is one of seven flood-hit industrial estates in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani.