No excess army land for poor farmers,
turn to other government departments
By Jon Fernquest |
Last week, the government launched an ambitious project to rent out state land to poor farmers for 20 baht per rai.
A deadline of three months was set to get this project started.
The programme would not take land that was already being used by people.
Unfortunately, the largest holder of government land that could be used by poor farmers is the military. (See pie chart on right)
The military's reply to the idea was immediate: We have no unused land to give you.
launch a project - begin a project
an ambitious plan - a plan to achieve a great deal, maybe too much
deadline - a time limit, a time that a task must be done before
a pie chart - a circular chart divided into sectors, illustrating relative magnitudes or frequencies or percents (See Wikipedia)
Here are the two Bangkok articles which have looked at this problem:
FARM DISTRIBUTION SCHEME
Army says all its land in use
POST REPORTERSFriday June 13, 2008
The government's plan to distribute unused land owed by the State Property Bureau to poor farmers could hit a snag - the armed forces don't want to give it up.
The largest share of the bureau's land is rented by the Defence Ministry, which will be the first agency asked to hand some of it back, a source at the Treasury Department said.
The department, which oversees the property bureau, was on Tuesday ordered by the cabinet to get one million rai of land back from other agencies, so it can be allocated to landless farmers.
Army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda had ordered a review of bureau-owned land countrywide to consider how much the army could return to the owner, and quickly came up with the answer.
"We've replied to the bureau that all the land is being used," the source said.
Many areas have been turned in to bases for military units or training sites, or set aside for "secret" purposes. The rest of the land is covered by vast tracks of forest, according to the source.
Deputy army spokeswoman Col Sirichan Ngathong said the answer was not final. "But whether we would give some back to the government depends on our commander," she said.
The army is believed to control most of the land the Defence Ministry rents from the property bureau. It has four million rai in 58 provinces.
The bureau has 12.5 million of land in all provinces. Much of it is in Kanchanaburi followed by Surat Thani, Ratchaburi, Nakhon Ratchasima and Kalasin. The rent is just 20 baht per rai.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has set three months as the deadline for the plan to be realised.
(Source: Bangkok Post, front page, general news, post reporters, 13-06-08, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
distribute - deliver things to many people
farm distribution scheme - government programme to allow poor farmers to rent out government land cheaply
hit a snag - encounter a problem in a project, project delayed
give it up - abandon it
hand some of it back - give some of it back
oversees - managing a project, making sure that everything goes well in hte project (See glossary)
allocated to - giving or sharing out something among people in a group (See glossary)
came up with the answer - give answer, after working to find it
set aside - keep for a special future use (See glossary)
vast - extremely large
vast tracks of forest - very large amounts of forest land
a deadline - a time limit, a time that a task must be done before
realise - something only though of (plan, dream) actually happens
realise a plan - when is actually executed, done, achieved, and completed
set three months as the deadline for the plan to be realised - say that the plan must be completed within three months
From Bangkok Post Commentary, June 17, 2008:
Military has land, but not for farming
SARITDET MARUKATAT
...The Treasury Department is very active now. Its officials have already scrolled down the long list of all 24 state customers leasing its land in all 76 provinces, from border areas to the capital and resort islands. Most of the land is in Kanchanaburi, followed by Surat Thani, Ratchaburi, Nakhon Ratchasima, Kalasin and 71 other provinces, including Trat where some plots are in Koh Kud.
The No. 1 client is the Defence Ministry, now renting seven million rai or 56% of 12.5 million rai, from the department. It is far ahead of No. 2, the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, which has leased only 1.7 million rai or merely 14%.
The Treasury Department's conclusion is that this government project would be okay if the Defence Ministry is generous enough to return some of those plots back. That the ministry has become the first target makes sense, given the vast amount of land it has on lease, most of which is controlled by the army.
The Treasury Department believes that there are 119 plots of land totalling four million rai now at the ministry which can be recalled, to be leased out to farmers. Another one million rai controlled by 11 agencies in different plots are also good enough for farmers, given their shape, size and potential for farming.
Deputy Finance Minister Lt Ranongrak Suwanchawee has already suggested that to Mr Samak and other cabinet members. Her recommendation was that the prime minister and other cabinet ministers should press for agencies under their responsibility to return the land to the department. That means Mr Samak should order the defence minister - which is himself - to summon the army leader for a meeting to convince the general to follow this government's policy. But the army has unveiled its position on this project, saying all plots of land leased from the State Property Bureau are under use. So it's up to Mr Samak, as the defence minister, to talk Gen Anupong into cooperating with him on this plan.
Mr Samak has no hesitation in criticising the press, in ridiculing the opposition Democrat party and attacking anti-government demonstrators led by the People's Alliance for Democracy. But one sure thing is, he will never want to upset the generals or make them angry, given that they are the only bargaining chip he has in countering political pressure from his own People Power party members. It's not worth seeing his ties with Gen Anupong and other military leaders damaged by this scheme. So, it is not difficult to predict that the Defence Ministry's land will be left almost untouched under this project. Military generals could cite security as the main reason to keep the land with them. All the Treasury Department can do is turn its attention to try and claim the land back from other customers, like the Agriculture and Cooperatives, Education and Transport ministries.
Saritdet Marukatat is News Editor, Bangkok Post.
(Source: Bangkok Post, op-ed section, commentary, 17-06-08, SARITDET MARUKATAT, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
scroll - move text up or down on a coputer screen to find information needed
scrolled down the long list - looked at a long list on a computer screen to find information needed
generous - giving more than people normally give (See glossary)
makes sense - can understand
vast amount of land - a very large amount of land
plots of land - small pieces of land, that have been measured out (Have a definite boundary)
recalled - people asked to return something
potential - capable of developing into something, has great possible benefits (See glossary)
potential for farming - might be possible to use for farming
press for - try to persuade and make people do something
summon - order someone to come to you
summon the army leader for a meeting - ask the army leader to come to you for a meeting
unveil - introduce to the public (See glossary)
unveiled its position on this project - introduced its position to the public
hesitation - wait for a moment before doing, because uncertain
has no hesitation in criticising the press -
a bargaining chip -
countering - acting against something, in the opposite direction
political pressure - when powerful politicians try to persuade and make people do something
only bargaining chip he has in countering political pressure from his own People Power party members -
cite security as the main reason - give security as the main reason
turn its attention to - start spending time working on
