BMA steps up collection of garbage after floods

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn yesterday assigned 400 of his royal servants and the Army with heavy machines to help collect garbage in Bangkok’s Sai Mai district. Deputy Governor Pornthep Tejapaiboon said the BMA had instructed every district to provide areas to store trash temporarily before trucking it to Tha Rang garbage transfer station. In addition, many trucks were sent directly to the Ratchathewa and Kamphaeng Saen landfill sites to avoid waiting in long queues to dump garbage at the transfer stations. 

To deal with a lack of shovel trucks, the BMA has told the district administrators to rent some. It has also hired people temporarily to gather garbage for the trucks to pick up, and these workers are being paid Bt300 a day, Pornthep said. 

“Bangkokians have been producing a lot of garbage every day, although the BMA’s staff have been working hard to collect it since December 1,” Pornthep said.

He urged residents to separate flood-related garbage such as damaged furniture from regular household trash, as this would make it easier for collectors to dispose of it. 

He said the BMA estimated that the floods had produced 100,000 tonnes of rubbish. The average flooded household would produce 500 kilograms to a tonne of rubbish. More than 48,000 tonnes had already been collected, and the administration was working to pick up the rest so the situation would return to normal by the end of the month. 

Normally, the BMA collects 8,500 tonnes of rubbish per day, but after the floods receded it increased that to 10,000 tonnes a day. Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra yesterday visited a garbage-sorting point on Buddha Mondhol 1 Road in Phasi Charoen district where a pilot sorting project has been underway since early this month. Up to 20 tonnes of damaged wooden furniture has been sorted.