Pattaya-
Pattaya increased the number of trucks hauling medical waste out of a disputed dumpsite in Khao Maikaew in an attempt to quiet the uproar among neighbours. We have previously reported on this as well ( https://thepattayanews.com/2018/02/02/pattaya-city-removing-100-tons-medical-waste-khao-maikaew/ )
Natawut Burarak, manager for Miss Nightingale Health Care, which was hired by the city to remove the 120 tons of hazardous waste, said the operation began with one truck hauling six tons of refuse to Nakhon Sawan each day.
Khao Maikaew residents, outraged over Pattaya’s violation of an agreement never to store more than 100 tons of medical waste in their backyards, argued the city should get rid of the syringes, soiled bandages and other infected garbage as quickly as possible.
In response, the contractor added more vehicles after getting Pattaya to increase the fee it was paying from 11 baht per kilogram to 16 baht per kilo. The city’s bill for cleaning up its mess in Khao Maikaew has now jumped to a skyhigh 6.4 million baht. That does not include the fee to burn the hazmat in the Nakhon Sawan incinerator.
After three days of ramped-up transport, the company cleared 40 tons of waste. The entire backlog was scheduled to be removed before Feb. 15, however, as of today, February 17th, 2018 the medical waste is still not completely cleared.
The media attention the medical-waste dumping has received also prompted authorities to look more closely at the Nakhon Sawan incinerator.
Environmental officials cited the company in charge of the incinerator for not meeting legal standards, even though it has already been operating for nearly seven years. Incinerator officials have pledged to get rid of all of Pattaya’s medical waste before addressing its larger problems.
We here at The Pattaya News will continue to update you on this story.
