TRASH FROM FLOODS A Buddha's statue sits amid trash at a half-flooded street corner in Ayutthaya province, central Thailand Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. Thai authorities plan to hire additional 2,000 rubbish collectors in the capital Bangkok to tackle a mountain of trash that has piled up in inundated areas, officials said on Tuesday, November 8, 2011. AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong
BANGKOK—Thailand plans to hire at least 2,000 extra rubbish collectors in the capital Bangkok to tackle a mountain of trash that has piled up in inundated areas, officials said on Tuesday.
About one-fifth of the Thai capital is submerged in floodwater contaminated by rubbish, dead animals and industrial waste, raising fears about outbreaks of disease in the densely populated city of 12 million people.
Rubbish collectors, some of whom have resorted to using boats instead of trucks, have struggled to reach badly hit districts in the past two weeks, leaving hundreds of tons of uncollected rubbish to clog up Bangkok’s streets.
Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra told reporters the city would hire 150 additional collectors in each affected district for the rest of 2011 and give them the necessary equipment to reach swamped neighborhoods.
The capital already employs about 17,000 refuse collectors and road sweepers.
More than 1.7 million people have been told to evacuate 12 out of Bangkok’s 50 districts, while partial evacuations have been ordered in five others.
But many residents have chosen to stay in their homes despite risks including electrocution, disease and lack of food and drinking water.
The floods are the worst to hit Thailand in decades. Triggered by heavy monsoon rains that began three months ago, they have killed 527 people nationwide and are expected to plague Bangkok for several more weeks at least.
On average, the city collects some 8,500 tonnes of rubbish each day and an official at the BMA’s environment department said that less than half of the waste in flood-affected districts was being cleared.