BMA to sign deal for canal embankments

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will also ask the National Housing Authority and the Community Organisations Development Institute to come up with a plan to relocate 3,023 affected families, Busakorn Kongudom, an adviser to the governor, said after a meeting with the city executives yesterday.
Busakorn said a BMA meeting on August 21 with the Interior Ministry and related agencies saw Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan set up a national coordination committee for the task. He also instructed the BMA, Treasury Department and Army |to survey and demolish homes |that encroach on the canal in that area.
She said bidding for the project would be held on Thursday and the contract signed by September 30. Construction is expected to take 42 months.
“The Bangkok governor is confident this project will benefit Bangkok’s water drainage.
“The BMA will also focus on developing the area continuously for maximum benefit and take care of the affected communities,” she said, adding that the BMA Traffic and Transportation Department had been assigned to link water transport with other means of commuting.
The city will also develop canal-side areas into tourist attractions, such as floating markets.