PHUKET: Residents of a village in Patong have blamed the floods that engulfed Patong Hospital, forcing an evacuation of patients, on an illegal road that was built above a canal to access a Phuket resort.
The residents of Baan Mon say the building of the road illegally above the canal involved putting down foundations that diverted the water downhill to Patong Hospital, where flooding inundated the basement, forcing the evacuation, on August 25.
Patong council officials found difficulty yesterday explaining how the road came to be built when it is clearly an illegal construction.
Baan Mon residents and officials accompanied Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Samgkaosutthirak on a tour that took in the road and the APK Resort and Spa, an eight-storey facility in Rachapatanusom Road accessed by the road above the canal.
Residents told the vice governor that they had complained more than once to the Damrongtam Office at Phuket Provincial Hall, which serves as Phuket's complaints bureau, and to the Interior Ministry in Bangkok, which oversees the administration of Phuket and all Thai provinces.
''This is the fourth time we have had officials come to inspect the illegal road,'' one resident told Vice Governor Somkiet. ''Nothing has happened.''
The residents are also at the centre of the ''Your project, my home'' campaign against the proposed Patong Hill tunnel that would exit on the Patong side in Baan Mon.
Vice Governor Somkiet told the residents that he undertook to make sure there was no need for a fifth tour of the illegal road by officials.
In a separate case, Vice Governor Somkiet inspected an apartment block in Phuket City where complainants say a swiftlet loft has been built without approval on the third floor of a building.
Nearby residents and the management of a small hotel say the noise of the swiftlets disturbs their activities by day and their sleep at night.
The building, near the Seng Ho book store in Montri Road, Phuket City, is owned by the Treasury Department and they would have to deal with the woman now renting the property, Vice Governor Somkiet said.
The swiftlets produce the birds' nests that go to make the birds' nest soup, considered a delicacy by many.
The residents of Baan Mon say the building of the road illegally above the canal involved putting down foundations that diverted the water downhill to Patong Hospital, where flooding inundated the basement, forcing the evacuation, on August 25.
Patong council officials found difficulty yesterday explaining how the road came to be built when it is clearly an illegal construction.
Baan Mon residents and officials accompanied Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Samgkaosutthirak on a tour that took in the road and the APK Resort and Spa, an eight-storey facility in Rachapatanusom Road accessed by the road above the canal.
Residents told the vice governor that they had complained more than once to the Damrongtam Office at Phuket Provincial Hall, which serves as Phuket's complaints bureau, and to the Interior Ministry in Bangkok, which oversees the administration of Phuket and all Thai provinces.
''This is the fourth time we have had officials come to inspect the illegal road,'' one resident told Vice Governor Somkiet. ''Nothing has happened.''
The residents are also at the centre of the ''Your project, my home'' campaign against the proposed Patong Hill tunnel that would exit on the Patong side in Baan Mon.
Vice Governor Somkiet told the residents that he undertook to make sure there was no need for a fifth tour of the illegal road by officials.
In a separate case, Vice Governor Somkiet inspected an apartment block in Phuket City where complainants say a swiftlet loft has been built without approval on the third floor of a building.
Nearby residents and the management of a small hotel say the noise of the swiftlets disturbs their activities by day and their sleep at night.
The building, near the Seng Ho book store in Montri Road, Phuket City, is owned by the Treasury Department and they would have to deal with the woman now renting the property, Vice Governor Somkiet said.
The swiftlets produce the birds' nests that go to make the birds' nest soup, considered a delicacy by many.
So 4 times officials have visited and ignored the problem. Now they have a hard time explaining why the road is there.
It is good to see that some people are applying pressure to the government, but what the outcome will be, we can only guess.
Maybe people will wake up and see that THIS is the cost of corruption.
Posted by Tbs on October 20, 2011 09:28