Banpu Public Company is setting up a waste management system based on good standards of hygiene and sanitation to help the Ban Khao Samorkhon Community to improve and sustain its basic healthcare. The Company also had its executives and staff show the Khao Samorkhon residents how to separate and recycle their waste for better waste management awareness during their volunteer work in the community. 

Banpu Chief Executive Officer Mr. Chanin Vongkusolkit recently lead a group of Banpu’s executives and employees to visit Ban Khao Samorkhon in Thawung District, Lopburi Province. The Company collaborated with the Tambon Khao Samorkhon Administration Organization and its Health Promotion Hospital for this waste management project as part of the assistance – offered under the Banpu Post-Flood Rehabilitation Project. Banpu executives and employees took time to show residents the benefits of separating and recycling usable waste in maintaining a clean and healthy environment. After this activity, Banpu plans to organize a training program to educate the community on the practical benefits of responsible waste management, and set up a waste collection centre. 

Banpu initiated and developed the Banpu Post-Flood Rehabilitation Project at Ban Khao Samorkhon in early 2012 to rehabilitate the community whose housing and farming lands had been heavily affected by the disastrous flood in late 2011. The goal is to enable the community to be self-reliant, by developing a strong and sustainable plan to cope with future natural disasters. Banpu has conducted pilot projects in the community’s Village 1, 2 and 3.

“As a member of society, believing that “an industry will be strong only when it is developed in tandem with social and environmental responsibility”, Banpu’s experience in community and social development during the past 30 years should help this community stand on its own feet firmly and in a sustainable way. Banpu has conducted these social activities “from the heart” on the basis of “our sincerity, concern and goodwill,” the essence of Banpu’s social responsibility work, and for the maximum benefit of community and the society,” said Mr. Chanin. 

The Banpu Post-Flood Rehabilitation Project at Ban Khao Samorkhon consists of immediate, medium- and long-term assistance in a wide range of activities such as:

• the initial community cleaning after the flood,
• repairing 45 severely flood-damaged houses in Village 3
• renovating Ban Khao Samorkhon’s Health Promotion Hospital, Khao Samorkhon School Temple and Wat Tham Tako School.
• setting up a fertilizer revolving fund for the Ban Khao Samorkhon’s Farmers-for-Truth Group,
• organized training and education trip for community leaders and members,
• formulating plans and organizing a workshop for the three villages entitled: “Preparing the Community for Future Disasters” with the Thai Red Cross Society,
• repairing a multi-purpose building in Khao Samorkhon Temple and installing water purifiers so that the temple could be a relief center at a time of crisis and accommodate other community activities during normal periods.

In addition, Banpu continues to support attempts to add value to organically-farmed products through for example, organic rice farming currently being trialed by 14 households covering more than 80 rai of land, and activities that help increase household incomes while reducing expenses; such as growing vegetables and raising animals for their own consumption

“When implementing The Banpu Post-Flood Rehabilitation Project at Ban Khao Samorkhon, Lopburi Province, Banpu puts a priority on community participation. From conducting a baseline survey for basic community information to initiating plans based on what the community perceives as their existing problems and needs, this project is planned by Banpu to encourage and allow community members to manage the project themselves. At the same time, Banpu provides the financial support and organization networks that can reach out to experts who will transfer the much-needed knowledge to the community. In this way, Banpu acts as a mentor to enable the villages to regain their self-reliance as a strong and sustainable community,” Mr. Chanin concluded.