50 activists have lodged a request with the Senate to have one of the latter’s committees inspect the project to construct a waste-to-power garbage incinerator by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, which the activists claim was expensive and outdated.
Chainiran Phayomyaem, president of the OPAR activist group, said the purchase of the garbage incinerator that also doubled as a power generator had not passed through a public referendum or taken into account the opinions of local residents in the vicinity of the site despite the fact that the trash burning may have effects on the health of the residents and the condition of the local environment.
Mr. Chainiran also said the BMA’s extension of its contract with the company currently handling garbage, at the rate of 550 baht per ton per day, was suspicious in light of proposals by other companies that have offered better prices and more current technologies. He indicated that public funds could have been saved in this matter as well as the matter of the 900-million baht incinerator to be built at Nong Khaem.
In addition to the Senate, the OPAR group also plans to file a complaint with the minister of interior, as the latter oversees the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
