At 9:00 on July 12, 2024, Mr. Songsak Thongsri, 1st Deputy Minister of Interior (MOI.2), along with his team, traveled to Mae Sot City Municipality, Mae Sot District, Tak Province, to inspect the project under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior, the Mae Sot City Municipality's municipal solid waste (MSW)-to-energy power plant project, and to listen to problems from local administrative organizations (LAOs) in the area. The Deputy Minister of Interior was welcomed by Mr. Praderm Dechayonbancha, Tak Provincial Deputy Governor, Mr. Sanya Phetset, Mae Sot District Chief, Acting Sub. Lieutenant Prasert Puanglakorn, Mayor of Mae Sot City Municipality, along with heads of government agencies, local leaders, community leaders and local residents.
The Deputy Minister of Interior then joined a meeting with heads of government agencies and local leaders to listen to a presentation on solid waste management and to hear problems from LAO executives in Mae Sot District. At 13:00, the Deputy Minister of Interior visited the MSW-to-energy power plant project located in Moo 10, Mae Pa Subdistrict, Mae Sot District.
The Deputy Minister of Interior said that Mae Sot District is a special economic zone, and Mae Sot City Municipality is a large municipality with a budget of over 600 million baht for area development. The city is growing and developing, leading to waste problems. The government is working to address waste management from upstream to downstream and sees waste to energy as a way to make MSW management concrete and sustainable.
The power purchase agreement (PPA) for the Mae Sot City MSW-to-energy power plant project has been canceled. The Ministry of Interior, as the supervising agency for LAOs, the Deputy Minister of Interior therefore visited the area to investigate of how the problem occurred and to find urgent solutions. The waste problem is a major environmental management issue that, if not addressed, could have more serious consequences than we think.
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