PHUKET: DOUBTS about the legality of Phuket's Big Buddha hilltop tourist drawcard were confirmed today - and more questions still need to be answered about the project's continuing development.

A meeting in Phuket City chaired by Vice Governor Somkiat Sangkhowsuttarak heard how Phuket's most celebrated religious icon had grown like Topsy despite limitations on its initial permit and attempts to seek more thorough explanations of the site's future.

In 2002, Forests Department spoksperson Poppon Siriluck-Sanapong told the gathering at Provincial Hall, permission was given to Kata's Kittisangkaram temple to use 42 rai atop Nakkerd Hill for meditation and other reflective activities.

The arrangement was to operate for five years. Around the same time, Suporn Wanichkul set up a foundation, now known as the Mingmongkol Faith 45 Foundation, to construct a big buddha.

Permission had been obtained for a smaller golden buddha.

The current extension of the original Forest Department agreement expires in September 2011, the meeting heard. However, the Big Buddha project continues to expand beyond the original 42 rai, with a Buddhism Museum among the new activities planned for the hilltop below the 45-metre statue.

A separate line of investigation by Phuket City authorities attempted to trace the money given on the hilltop for jade tiles of varying sizes, and the purchase of religious souvenirs and amulets, the hearing heard.

Large sums of cash are removed from donation boxes and counted every Saturday, Khun Suporn told his questioners, inviting them to join the counting process each weekend.

A balance sheet for 2005 has been produced and accountants are now working on balance sheets for the intervening years, Khun Suporn told those who asked.

Vice Governor Somkiat recognised the significance of the Big Buddha to Phuket as a religious icon and an important place for tourism. He said that in view of the statue now being such an integral part of Phuket's character and culture, its future was ''a very senstive issue.''

With donations continuing to the foundation as hundreds of tourists and people from all religious backgrounds visit the hilltop to see the Big Buddha and surounding views, the project has expanded downwards.

At the meeting's conclusion it was agreed a letter should be sent to the foundation asking them to:

..build a boundary fence around the 42 rai of the original agreement;

..erect a prominent sign spelling out the points of the original agreement with the Forests Department;

..demolish all buildings constructed without permits on the site (this is taken to mean the existing entrance chamber and housing for monks);

..set a date on which the project will finish.