PHUKET: Enforcement of the law as building breaches occurred on Phuket would be a much better policy for protecting Phuket, a meeting heard today.
Property battles dragged on for years in court disputes when quick action was needed, said the Phuket Director of the Public Works and Town and Country Planning Department, Wongsakorn Noonchukhan.
Phuket Governor Maitree Inthusud has suggested creation of a new governor's committee to oversee all construction applications on Phuket and the use of public land.
The committee would function in a similar way to the governor's committee that oversees all environmental permissions for Phuket.
Although the idea was his suggestion, Governor Maitree was not at Phuket Provincial Hall in Phuket City for today's meeting.
Engineering chiefs from all 19 Phuket councils and representatives of the three districts attended, with other officials involved in assessing projects.
In the chair, Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak said that the Tiger Disco blaze in which four people died, the wall collapse at the Senses Resort and the electrical blaze on the frontage of the Hard Rock Cafe were all recent examples of the failure of Phuket building standards.
''Phuket must be safe for tourists and residents and construction standards are an important part of that,'' he said.
Khun Wongsakorn said that enforcement of the law by the Natural Resources and Environment Department and Phuket Marine Office 5, which oversees shorefront property applications, would produce fair results more quickly.
In many cases, buildings went up while battles were fought in courts for many years, he said.
It was also sometimes difficult for proper inspections to be carried out within the 45-day deadline currently allowed for permissions to be checked.
The Chief of Phuket's Marine Office 5, Phuripat Theerakulpisut, said it was easy to find examples on Phuket of buildings sitting on poor foundations or constructed using poor materials.
Khun Phuripat said there were examples in Rawai, in southern Phuket, of buildings that had been built too close to the shoreline because of different interpretations of the law.
The Deputy Mayor of Kamala, Nopporn Karuna, and the Permanent Secretary of Thalang district, Nutchapol Klongkleang, both said their areas were troubled by flooding regularly because local canals had been narrowed or built over.
Khun Nopporn said some property developers even built houses in low-lying areas and promoted and sold developments without warning prospective buyers.
He said it should be compulsory for property developers to determine the highest level of local flooding, then to make sure all their construction was well above that mark.
More consideration is to be given to the creation of the governor's special construction committee.
Property battles dragged on for years in court disputes when quick action was needed, said the Phuket Director of the Public Works and Town and Country Planning Department, Wongsakorn Noonchukhan.
Phuket Governor Maitree Inthusud has suggested creation of a new governor's committee to oversee all construction applications on Phuket and the use of public land.
The committee would function in a similar way to the governor's committee that oversees all environmental permissions for Phuket.
Although the idea was his suggestion, Governor Maitree was not at Phuket Provincial Hall in Phuket City for today's meeting.
Engineering chiefs from all 19 Phuket councils and representatives of the three districts attended, with other officials involved in assessing projects.
In the chair, Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak said that the Tiger Disco blaze in which four people died, the wall collapse at the Senses Resort and the electrical blaze on the frontage of the Hard Rock Cafe were all recent examples of the failure of Phuket building standards.
''Phuket must be safe for tourists and residents and construction standards are an important part of that,'' he said.
Khun Wongsakorn said that enforcement of the law by the Natural Resources and Environment Department and Phuket Marine Office 5, which oversees shorefront property applications, would produce fair results more quickly.
In many cases, buildings went up while battles were fought in courts for many years, he said.
It was also sometimes difficult for proper inspections to be carried out within the 45-day deadline currently allowed for permissions to be checked.
The Chief of Phuket's Marine Office 5, Phuripat Theerakulpisut, said it was easy to find examples on Phuket of buildings sitting on poor foundations or constructed using poor materials.
Khun Phuripat said there were examples in Rawai, in southern Phuket, of buildings that had been built too close to the shoreline because of different interpretations of the law.
The Deputy Mayor of Kamala, Nopporn Karuna, and the Permanent Secretary of Thalang district, Nutchapol Klongkleang, both said their areas were troubled by flooding regularly because local canals had been narrowed or built over.
Khun Nopporn said some property developers even built houses in low-lying areas and promoted and sold developments without warning prospective buyers.
He said it should be compulsory for property developers to determine the highest level of local flooding, then to make sure all their construction was well above that mark.
More consideration is to be given to the creation of the governor's special construction committee.
Many of Phuket's problems are well documented and viable, realistic solutions are also well known.
What seems to be desperately lacking is the will to implement them.
Posted by Andrew on November 21, 2012 19:51