New Gov aims for transparent administration

PHUKET TOWN: Transparency in government and sorting out Phuket Town’s traffic congestion were the issues that the island’s new Governor CEO, Udomsak Usawarangkura, chose to highlight on his first day in office yesterday. Phuket needs to involve locals and visitors in an open style of government, and to ensure the safety of the four million overseas tourists who visit each year, he said. To make the CEO system work efficiently, it’s essential to keep communications open between government departments and people in Phuket, including foreign residents and tourists, K. Udomsak told his first official media conference, at the Phuket Provincial Health Office. “The heads of government departments should make the workings of their departments more transparent and should freely give anyone the information they need,” he added. As for traffic, chaos on the roads is threatening to stifle the growth of tourism, he said. He announced that Thailand’s top transport and traffic expert is coming to the island to look at the roads, and at air and sea transport as well. Dr Kumropluk Suraswadi, the Director of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP), will be in Phuket later this week to start work on a plan, the Governor said. His visit comes following a directive from the Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. K. Udomsak nominated moving Phuket’s long-haul bus terminal to the 10-rai site near the Tesco-Lotus supercenter as a priority to ease traffic congestion. Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO) Chief Prasit Amarapal told the conference that 150 officers would be trained to test applicants for motorcycle and car licenses in an effort to make all road users comply with appropriate driving safety standards.