Ministries to be graded on insurgency efforts

Failure will be reported to PM, Yutthasak says

The government will use the handling of the southern insurgency as a criterion for assessing the performance of security-related ministries, says Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa.

The Defence Ministry will today hold a meeting to establish missions for each security ministry to carry out in tackling the southern insurgency. The various ministries’ performance will be closely watched and graded, he said.

“Once they are granted budgets, we will evaluate them every three months. If they do not use money, we will take it back,” Gen Yutthasak said.

Any success or failure of a minister in the anti-insurgency effort will be reflected in the grading.

Gen Yutthasak said some state agencies were not coordinating policies and efforts, which impeded efforts to stamp out the insurgency. Changes of governments also caused work discontinuity.

“If a ministry cannot work under the strategies laid out for it, we will report this to the prime minister,” Gen Yutthasak said. “It will be considered the minister’s inadequacy.”

In other southern news, yesterday in Sai Buri district of Pattani, Maaduran Jelong, 35, an assistant villager in tambon Kadunong, was shot dead while in a tea shop.

The attack took place after two men parked a motorcycle in front of the shop and shot him with a pistol.

In Nong Chik district, Sommart Kesaro, 63, was killed in a drive-by shooting as he rode his motorcycle home on Pattani-Narathiwat road.

He was attacked by two men on a motorcycle.

Meanwhile, about 30 primary school teachers in Muang Yala district of Yala province have been transferred to schools near their homes to reduce the burden on security authorities.

Prasit Nookung, director of the primary education office in Yala, said teachers had sought transfers to schools near their homes for their own safety.

He approved the transfers as they could also relieve the burden of security officers who guard the teachers.

Many teachers live far from the schools at which they teach and security escort officers must travel a long distance with them, exposing them to attacks.

Mr Prasit said security authorities have worked out measures to protect teachers in Yala for the new school term, which started this week, and that the most danger-prone schools were in Krong Pinang and Raman districts.

In Narathiwat, Saki Sama-ae, principal of Ban Ta Ngo School in Cho Airong district, is seeking donations to buy new teaching equipment lost in a fire, a suspected arson attack, on April 18.

As most schools re-opened for the new term yesterday, Ban Ta Ngo School held class in tents near school buildings that had burned to the ground.

Meanwhile, in Pattani, Malawee Adae, a 24-year-old paramilitary ranger, turned himself in to police in Yarang district yesterday to fight charges that he shot and injured Roha Yeereng, deputy village head in the district, on April 25.

He was charged with premeditated attempted murder and illegally carrying a firearm and ammunition.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/293482/ministries-to-be-graded-on-insurgency-efforts