Phasakorn Channgam
Pattaya officials are looking for a new city dump after protests
by Khao Maikaew residents continue to shut down its existing landfill.
“It looks as if this has become a chronic issue,” Deputy Mayor Ronakit
Ekasingh told the Pattaya Business & Tourism Association at its Sept. 11
meeting at the Grand Sole Hotel. “Even after negotiations, the majority
of residents are still adamant the dump be closed.”
Deputy Mayor Ronakit
Ekasingh tells the PBTA that Khao Maikaew residents are still adamant
the dump there be closed.
The stink over the Khao Maikaew landfill, where 400
tons of Pattaya trash goes a day, began late last year when neighbors
started barricading the entrance to the dump to protest extra-stinky
garbage deposits from Koh Larn. At the time, community leaders insisted
all waste come from mainland Pattaya only, not the island, as its long
transport makes the rotting trash even more pungent.
“Khao Maikaew and nearby communities have been suffering from effects of
garbage dumps for far too long, with complaints about smell, an increase
in animals and insects that are vectors of communicable diseases, and
wastewater seeping, contaminating water sources,” Ronakit said. “These
issues have caused such difficulties that residents have protested and
closed the entrance of the garbage dump again. There have been protests
and complaints earlier and when accommodations were made, the garage
dump reopened. But now it has closed again.”
At the time, Pattaya officials suggested building a landfill on the
island to solve the problem. But in the months since, Khao Maikaew
residents have become even more strident, now demanding the entire
facility be shuttered and sporadically closed access to the landfill.
The shutdowns have caused garbage to back up into Pattaya, sending
business leaders up in arms.
“In the past couple of months, there have been unpleasant odors emitting
from trash, which is causing much difficulty for residents and nearby
businesses, as well as blemishing Pattaya’s image as a tourism
destination,” PBTA President Sinchai Wattanasartsathorn said.
Ronakit said city hall frantically is working for a solution.
“I have to admit that garbage issue is a big one in Pattaya that
administrators are brainstorming ideas on for guidelines and solutions,”
he said.
The immediate solution, he said, is an agreement with the sub-district
governments in Najomtien and Laem Chabang to share their dumps. The
long-term, fix, however, is to find another large, permanent dump for
Pattaya.
“Pattaya is looking for a new space to manage garbage sustainably,”
Ronakit said. “How Pattaya will solve the issue, we will update you in
the future.”
