THE developers of a Phuket resort converted a nearby stretch of coastal rocks and forest into a quayside promenade without permission, officials said today.
The east coast promenade, measuring 200 metres by 15 metres with a reinforced wall facing the sea, was shown to a group headed by Vice Governor Smith Palawatwichai.
Locals and marine authorities at first thought the builders must have permission to work on the coast so brazenly, the vice governor was told.
Finally on May 22, the people of Ao Po Moo 6, which is nearby, questioned the legitimacy of the development in a letter to the Governor, Wichai Praisa-nob.
By then, the promenande had been virtually completed.
Today, officials stood in awe at the scale of the foreshore incursion, which was created over the rocky foreshore without the permission of the local Orbortor..
With the vice governor today were local officials, police, the Marine Office, the Thalang branch of the Land Office, the president of the Paklok Orbortor, Thalang sub-district authorities, the chief of the nearby village and the media.
Accused of destroying the stretch of coast and building the promenade without permission are the developers of the adjacent property, which is to be the Senkeeri Resort and Spa.
The promenade, large and obvious up close, was apparently difficult to spot, even from the far end of the nearby Ao Po pier.
Authorities who were supposed to protect this stretch of coast failed to notice the construction equipment that must have been used to build it.
Access to the promenade today was difficult because the vice governor and his group did not have permission to cross the Senkeeri property.
They had to make their way along the rocky coastline for more than a kilometre.
Plans to prosecute those who constructed the illegal quayside promenade are proceeding.
Will the coast eventually be restored as closely as possible to the natural rocks and forest?
Nobody among the touring party was able to answer that question immediately today.
Locals say there is a second area of coastal land nearby where a similar illegal incursion has occurred.
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Ao Po
The east coast promenade, measuring 200 metres by 15 metres with a reinforced wall facing the sea, was shown to a group headed by Vice Governor Smith Palawatwichai.
Locals and marine authorities at first thought the builders must have permission to work on the coast so brazenly, the vice governor was told.
Finally on May 22, the people of Ao Po Moo 6, which is nearby, questioned the legitimacy of the development in a letter to the Governor, Wichai Praisa-nob.
By then, the promenande had been virtually completed.
Today, officials stood in awe at the scale of the foreshore incursion, which was created over the rocky foreshore without the permission of the local Orbortor..
With the vice governor today were local officials, police, the Marine Office, the Thalang branch of the Land Office, the president of the Paklok Orbortor, Thalang sub-district authorities, the chief of the nearby village and the media.
Accused of destroying the stretch of coast and building the promenade without permission are the developers of the adjacent property, which is to be the Senkeeri Resort and Spa.
The promenade, large and obvious up close, was apparently difficult to spot, even from the far end of the nearby Ao Po pier.
Authorities who were supposed to protect this stretch of coast failed to notice the construction equipment that must have been used to build it.
Access to the promenade today was difficult because the vice governor and his group did not have permission to cross the Senkeeri property.
They had to make their way along the rocky coastline for more than a kilometre.
Plans to prosecute those who constructed the illegal quayside promenade are proceeding.
Will the coast eventually be restored as closely as possible to the natural rocks and forest?
Nobody among the touring party was able to answer that question immediately today.
Locals say there is a second area of coastal land nearby where a similar illegal incursion has occurred.
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Ao Po
Methinks the authorities should hire a small boat and do a trip right around the coast, there are three areas of development, like this, that I have seen? Were the authorities who were supposed to "protect ", paid to turn a blind eye to " un-protect " ? This is becoming all too frequent in the international press with regards to this country? Where will it stop ?
Posted by Graham on May 30, 2009 09:48