Dredging canals in Bangkok to complete in May

BANGKOK, February 18 (TNA) - The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has begun dredging canals in the Thai capital, saying that it hopes the dredging of over 1,000 canals in the capital should be complete by May, timely for the normal arrival of the country's rainy season. Bangkok Deputy Governor Wallop Suwandee said Saturday that he was assured by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra during a meeting on Friday that additional budget amounting 848 million baht given by the government to the BMA for solving flood-related problems in the capital would be handed out next week. Wallop revealed that the plans include the construction of temporary water gates at Khlong Sam Wa, purchasing barriers to prevent floodwater from reaching the inner part of Bangkok and raising the level of Buddha Monthon 2 and 3 Roads. Meanwhile, Transport Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan acknowledged he had found from a recent survey on the lower part of Thailand's central region, assigned by the prime minister, that his ministry would have to complete short-term projects in the region within three to six months, including improving roads, dredging waterways and dredging key rivers, namely the Mae Klong, the Ta Chin and the Chao Phraya Rivers, before the rainy season starts; while urgent repairs of roads which have been damaged during late last year’s massive flooding would be undertaken and complete by September. Regarding long-term projects, the minister said, elevated roads would be constructed in Bangkok’s neighbouring provinces; while the current tollway would be extended from Thammasat University Rangsit Campus to Wang Noi District in the central Ayutthaya Province, aimed at preventing future floods. (TNA)