Land probe targets Nai Harn resort

NAI HARN: The developers of a resort being built in Nai Harn, near Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club, will likely be ordered to dismantle it by June 10. The order is expected to be issued after government officers found that no permission had been given for the resort’s construction. Vice-Governor Pongpow Ketthong told the Gazette yesterday that he visited the site on Friday and concluded that the resort – which as yet has no name – was being built without permission from the Rawai Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor). More than 20 bungalows in the resort had already been completed, he said. “The issue of who owns the land [the resort is being built on] is currently in court,” he said, declining to name the parties involved in hearings. “In any case there are no papers for this land, so that means no one can build on it.” He explained that Rawai OrBorTor has already ordered the developer to cease construction and will soon order the demolition of the buildings. If the developer does not dismantle the resort then the OrBorTor itself will do so. The Chief of the Phuket Provincial Forestry Office (PPFO), Tongchai Savapong, told the Gazette that his officers are checking whether the land belongs to the PPFO or to the Phuket Agricultural Land Reform Office (PALRO – the office responsible for SorPorKor 4-01 titles) and answers are expected within the week. If the resort is found to have been built on land belonging to the PPFO, the developers will will be prosecuted for encroachment, he said. PALRO Chief Teerawut Tawornpatanapong said, “If we find the land belongs to the PALRO, that means the developer can’t build on it because it is earmarked for agrticultural use only.” Sang Chanalert, former Village Headman of Rawai Moo 1, said that construction on the 20-rai site began in January and was almost complete; 26 units had been finished and another six were partially built. He said, “Before, there was just a hut on the land. [The developer] erected a long screen around the site to hide it. When I tried to walk into the area some people came and told me to leave. “Rawai OrBorTor told the developer to cease construction on March 26. So how come the construction continued to the point where the resort is almost finished? “If we can’t preserve the forest in Nai Harn, soon there will be none left,” he added.