PHUKET: A world-class Korean firm has emerged as the front-runner for two major construction projects that could help to end Phuket's long-term transport woes.
Representatives from Dohwa Engineering, which rates at the top in Korea and 106th globally, met with Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha yesterday and plan talks with Patong Mayor Pian Keesin.
The Dohwa team hope to mesh the six-billion baht Patong Tunnel with their bid to give Phuket the public transport road and rail network it sorely needs.
While critics and Phuketwan say that realistic and independent assessments are still absent, Dohwa is now at the head of the queue for establishing infrastructure.
None of the other contenders have taken their interest in Phuket to the same level as Dohwa.
Dohwa Railway-metro President Sung-Min Lee has even spent a couple of days on Phuket, viewing at first hand Phuket's peak hour traffic woes, the governor heard yesterday.
What Phuket people need to be sure about is whether the expensive construction projects really suit the island's future needs. Will a network of buses be better than a fixed-rail or raised-rail system between Phuket International Airport and Phuket's south and west?
Although Dohwa has some suggestions, there is no indication yet that the big-picture questions have been asked.
What are Phuket's real traffic needs? How will Phuket grow over the next five, 10 and 20 years?
Putting commercial self-interest to one side, what kinds of public transport will make life easier, more convenient and safer for Phuket's residents and visitors?
The major handicap remains blinkered bureaucratic vision. This deficiency was highlighted just this week when Transport Department officials offered three solutions to the Bypass Road t-junction problem - all of them flyovers, and all of them equally undesirable.
No single independent authority has produced a strategy that takes account of Phuket's needs and Phuket's opinions to assess whether the Patong Tunnel and a Dohwa-style proposal would be best for Phuket.
On one side of Phuket, Patong Mayor Pian Keesin advocates the tunnel. On the other side of Phuket, Governor Tri, who is soon to retire, looks at rail link after rail link.
Can a private construction firm be relied upon to resolve an issue that governments and Phuket administrators are paid to resolve?
Moving in the right direction at the right pace and at the right price is precisely what Phuket's transport future needs to be about.
Let's see it happening soon, please.
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A couple of good buses is the answer and all that it needs. Any kind of rail system is a waste.
Posted by okrim on August 11, 2011 13:40