BMA launches competition for role-model communities along canal

Chadchart presided over the ceremony to launch the competition, which was held at Pracha Ruamjai 1 Community in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district.

The competition is restricted to three communities on the canal’s banks: Pracha Ruamjai 1 and Pracha Ruamjai 2 in Chatuchak, and Wat Sing Community in Pathum Thani.

The three communities have more than 693 houses combined.

There will be two awards. The first will go to clusters of houses in each community, and the second will go to one of the three communities.

For the first, 30 families from each community can form a cluster to join the competition.

Chadchart said the competition is a part of the effort to keep communities along the banks of the canal tidy and keep the water in the canal clean.

The BMA received support from private-sector partners who contributed 240,000 baht in cash that will go for awards.

The winners will be announced next month.

The canal was a key transport route, but as Bangkok expanded many communities encroached on the canal until the national government and the BMA cooperated to build new houses for the squatters on the canal’s banks.

Garbage from communities of squatters caused the canal to become shallow, making it ineffective for draining floodwaters.

Chadchart said the competition was a short-term measure to encourage all communities to protect the environment of the canal.

In the medium-term, the BMA will provide skills training for residents of the communities so that they can find better jobs.

In the long-term, the BMA will develop the communities so that they become economically and environmentally sustainable, Chadchart said.