The Bangkok Metropolitan Council (BMC) on Thursday rejected a proposal to spend 219 million baht installing air-conditioners in 1,743 rooms across 429 schools run by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).
The request for a 219-million-baht budget forms part of the BMA's overall 90-billion-baht expenditure budget bill slated for the fiscal year 2024, starting Oct 1.
The project to install air conditioners is aimed at protecting preschool children between the ages of one and six years against the hazardous ultra-fine PM2.5 dust pollution in the city, said Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt.
The governor cited findings by the World Health Organisation outlining a particular threat to youngsters' health posed by the PM2.5 haze.
Before voting unanimously to reject the school air-conditioning project, the BMC questioned whether it was healthy to keep children in such an environment for most of the school day.
The council also raised a safety concern about installing air-conditioners in old buildings at BMA-run schools, some of which require maintenance and repair work.
The council also feared the BMA would end up facing a steep financial burden from having to cover the higher electricity bills from operating air-conditioners at the schools.
According to a BMA source, the BMC said it would have been inclined to approve the project had the BMA proposed the air-con installation along with a plan to fit solar-cell panels at the schools to offset the power bills. The council also noted the BMA had previously piloted the so-called dust-free school project at 32 schools, which did not require an air-conditioning system, according to Churachit Phongsingwitthaya, a Pheu Thai Party councillor for Lat Krabang district.
He said he wondered why the BMA didn't continue with the pilot project, in which schools found ways to mitigate the impact of PM2.5 dust by, for example, adding more green space, setting up air-purifiers and cladding buildings with dust-insulation materials.
Mr Chadchart agreed the BMA would incorporate the solar panels in the air-conditioning project before re-submitting it to the BMC for consideration.
"Rich or poor, these children should all be able to study in an air-conditioned room.
"Even I, the city governor, still need an air-conditioned room to work in after being exposed to a lot of dust pollution in the city. Why shouldn't children have access to such protection?" Mr Chadchart asked.