Floods Factories reopening-stainless steel back

Floods Factories reopening

• Published: 2/12/2011 at 02:03 PM
• Online news: Learning From News

New 5.4 meter dyke will put one industrial estate above peak level of 4.9 meters this flood. 8,700 of 60,000 workers were laid off.

The QIAOSHI's Military Barriers or Hesco Bastions is a modern gabion used for flood control and military fortification. It is made of a collapsible wire mesh container and heavy duty fabric liner, and used as a temporary to semi-permanent dike or barrier against blast or small-arms. One of the less heralded life- and labor-saving devices of war, it is used on nearly every United States Military base in Iraq as well as on NATO bases in Afghanistan.

 

Military Barriers/Hesco Bastions

Information

Specification

 

INDUSTRIAL ESTATES: Hi-Tech partially reopens early, Massive utility hike to pay for new dyke by Nareerat Wiriyapong

AYUTTHAYA : Flood-ravaged Hi-Tech Industrial Park resumed operations yesterday, 15 days ahead of target, while 30 factories there have already laid off over 8,700 staff.

Thavich Taychanavakul, Hi-Tech's managing director, said the 20-year-old estate projected it would reopen on Dec 15 after it was hit by floods on Oct 13.

About 10 of 140 factories in the estate are ready to restart production, including Aapico Hitech and Canon Hitech.

Hi-Tech is the third estate in Ayutthaya to resume operations after Factoryland and Bangpa-in Industrial Estate.

Five estates in the province are inundated: Hi-Tech,Y Post, Factoryland, Bangpa-in, Rojana, and Saha Rattana Nakorn.

There are 60,stainless steel back,000 workers employed at Hi-Tech with direct investment of 60 billion baht.

Wannarat Srisuksai, Ayutthaya's Labour Protection and Welfare official, said the number of factories cutting headcounts has more than doubled from 12 last month to 30.

There are 5,364 factories in Ayutthaya employing 380,000 people.

Monta Pranootnarapal, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand's governor, said floodwater would start to be pumped out of Saha Rattana Nakorn Industrial Estate on Dec 3 and take two days to finish.

The other two flooded estates were in Pathum Thani: Nava Nakorn and Bangkadi.

Mr Thavich said roughly 100 million baht is required to restore utilities at Hi-Tech, with 330 million slated for building 11 kilometres of a new dyke around the estate with a height of 5.40 metres. The existing dyke is 4.20 metres high, but the flood reached 4.9 metres above sea level at its peak

He said the company plans to increase the central utility fee by 1,200-1,500 baht per rai per month on top of 900-1,000 baht per rai at present. The hike is aimed at mobilising money to repay loans for building the dyke.

The increased fee, which is subject to approval from IEAT, will be applied for 15 years, he said.

Ms Monta agreed the fee was needed to build new infrastructure.

All five submerged estates in Ayutthaya should reopen in January.

Mr Thavich said 3% of the existing 140 companies are expected to relocate from Hi-Tech partly to leverage risks.

"Some companies heavily relied on manufacturing in Thailand. Now they are looking at other locations to minimise risks of a disruption in the future," he said.

(Source: Bangkok Post, INDUSTRIAL ESTATES,H.M. King Bhumibol Provides Relief Packages to Flood Victims-HESCO, Hi-Tech partially reopens early, Massive utility hike to pay for new dyke,Appeal launched for flood pics-hesco bastion, 2/12/2011, Nareerat Wiriyapong, link)

Flood Recovery Vocabulary

industrial estate - a special areas for factories that has special infrastructure such as electricity and water supply, transportation such as ports and railway, etc , also called "industrial park" (See Wikipedia)

duty - something that you have to do because it is part of your job หน้าที่, ความรับผิดชอบ
report for duty - go to your workplace to start work

partially - partly; not completely
partially reopens

utility - some basic service like electricity or water (usually provided by the government or a large monopoly) (See Wikipedia)
utility hike - increase in price of services such as electricity and water

dyke - a water wall; a wall built to prevent the sea or a river from covering an area, or a channel dug to take water away from an area เขื่อนกั้นน้ำ
utility hike to pay for new dyke

fee - an amount of money that you pay to be allowed to do something ค่าธรรมเนียม, ค่าตอบแทน, ค่าบริการ
utility fee - the amount of money paid each month for services such as electricity and water
plans to increase the central utility fee by 1,200-1,500 baht per rai per month on top of 900-1,000 baht per rai at present.

restore - to cause a particular situation to exist again, especially a good one ฟื้นฟูสภาพ
restore utilities - can use electricity and water again (after service stopped for a period of time)

ravaged - destroyed
flood-ravaged - destroyed by floods

resume - start again after stopping (ธุรกิจ) ที่ฟื้นตัวอีกครั้ง ดำเนินต่อไปใหม่, กลับมาอีกครั้ง
resumed operations - when a company starts doing business again after stopping for a period of time

target - a goal; the amount you are planning to achieve เป้าหมาย
ahead of target - reached their goals before deadline (the date they planned to reach goals)

flood-ravaged Hi-Tech Industrial Park resumed operations yesterday, 15 days ahead of target

laid off - when workers lose their job (because there is not enough; not their fault, workers did nothing wrong themselves)
staff - workers,金網, employees พนักงาน
30 factories there have already laid off over 8,700 staff.

projected - expected, forecast; the amount that experts believe for the future
estate - same as "industrial estate"
the 20-year-old estate projected it would reopen on Dec 15

inundated - flooded ถูกน้ำท่วม, จมลงใต้น้ำ
five estates in the province are inundated: Hi-Tech, Factoryland, Bangpa-in, Rojana, and Saha Rattana Nakorn

employed at - have a job at
investment - taking your money and putting it into projects to make a profit or earn interest (buying stock shares, bonds, real estate)
There are 60,000 workers employed at Hi-Tech with direct investment of 60 billion baht.

official - a high level staff member at a government agency
Wannarat Srisuksai, Ayutthaya's Labour Protection and Welfare official

headcount - the number of employees or workers that a company has working for it
cutting headcount - reducing the number of workers
the number of factories cutting headcounts has more than doubled from 12 last month to 30.

slated for - planned for (will do in the future)
330 million slated for building 11 kilometres of a new dyke around the estate with a height of 5.40 metres.

above sea level - the standard way of measuring how high a place, measuring the "elevation" of a place (See Wikipedia)

existing dyke - the dyke they have now
peak - highest level; the time when something is at its highest or greatest level ช่วงเวลาที่พบมากที่สุด
the existing dyke is 4.20 metres high, but the flood reached 4.9 metres above sea level at its peak

hike - same as "utility hike" = increase in "utility fees"
the hike is aimed at mobilising money to repay loans for building the dyke.

approval - official permission; saying "yes" you can do something, getting official permission to do something การอนุมัต
subject to approval - will happen only after "official permission" and "approval" has been given

apply - use
will be applied for 15 years - will be used for 15 years
the increased fee, which is subject to approval from IEAT, will be applied for 15 years

infrastructure - the high-cost facilities that everyone in the economy shares (water, roads, electricity, trains) สาธารณูปโภค

submerged - under water จมน้ำ อยู่ใต้น้ำ
submerged estates in Ayutthaya

expected - believe will happen คาดว่า (จะเกิดขึ้น)
relocate - move to another location ย้ายไปตั้งอีกที่หนึ่ง
leverage - 1. a small force producing great results (See glossary); 3. using borrowed money to buy assets (higher leverage = higher percentage of borrowed money used in purchase)

relocate to leverage risks - place business operations in many locations to reduce risk of disruptions
3% of the existing 140 companies are expected to relocate from Hi-Tech partly to leverage risks.

Some companies heavily relied on manufacturing in Thailand

disruption - prevented from operating normally; a situation in which something cannot continue because of a problem การขัดขวาง, การหยุดชะงัก
looking at - considering, thinking about, evaluating before making a decision

minimise - to reduce something harmful or unpleasant to the smallest amount or degree ลดจำนวนลง ลดให้เหลือน้อยที่สุด
risk - danger
minimise risks of disruption - make it very unlikely in the future that business operations cannot continue because of a problem

looking at other locations to minimise risks of a disruption in the future 
 

Photo above of cleaners reporting for duty at the Canon factory at the Hitech Industrial Estate (Photo: Thiti Wannamontha)

Click button to listen to Industrial Estates Reopen to download

Originally designed for use on beaches and marshes for erosion and flood control, the Hesco Bastion quickly became a popular security device in the 1990s.

Assembly

Assembling the Hesco Bastion entails unfolding it and (if available) using a front end loader to fill it with sand, dirt or gravel. The placement of the barrier is generally very similar to the placement of a sandbag barrier or earth berm except that room must generally be allowed for the equipment used to fill the barrier. The main advantage of Military Barrier, strongly contributing to their popularity with troops and flood fighters, is the quick and easy setup. Previously, people had to fill sandbags, a slow undertaking, with one worker filling about 20 sandbags per hour. Workers using Military Barrier and a front end loader can do ten times the work of those using sandbags.

The Hesco Barrier come in a variety of sizes. Most of the barriers can also be stacked, and they are shipped collapsed in compact sets. Example dimensions of typical configurations are 4’6” x 3’6” x 32’ (1.4m x 1.1m x 9.8m) to 7’ x 5’ x 100’ (2.1m x 1.5m x 30m).

A new system of Hesco Bastion developed specially for military use is deployed from a container, which is dragged along the line of ground where the barrier is to be formed, unfolding up to several hundred meters of barrier in minutes,KBank eyes 25% of B150bn flood-recovery business loans-hesco bastion, ready for filling with soil by a backhoe.

 

Protection

Filled with sand, 60 centimetres (24 inches) of barrier thickness will stop rifle bullets and shell fragments. It takes 1.5 metres (five feet) of thickness to prevent penetration by a rocket propelled grenade round. Approximately 1.2 metres (four feet) of thickness provides protection against most car bombs.