Christmas present to Phuket motorists: Patong Hill road to reopen

 Good news for motorists in Phuket, Patong Hill road is expected to fully reopen to all traffic on Christmas Day.

The road between Kathu and Patong was closed after it was hit by a landslide during a deluge of heavy rain in October. The road is only partially open at the moment but the Mayor of Kathu, Chai-anan Sutthikul, reported today that repairs to the road were almost finished, said Bangkok Post.

“The road’s foundation has been filled and strengthened and repair work is almost done.

“When completed, the road’s width will be increased by 7 metres in that section, making it safer, stronger and more durable.”

The mayor revealed he expected the 21 million baht project to be finished before December 24 and within the 45-day timeframe set in the contract.

“If there is no rain, the work could even be finished on December 20.”

The Provincial Electricity Authority’s Phuket office announced it will install new power poles and CCTV to monitor the repaired section of the road.

A survey on November 7 revealed that about 70,000 round trips were made on the hill road each day, about 35,000 each way.

A landslide caused the Kathu-Patong Road to close on October 19 causing chaos to motorists and travellers trying to reach Phuket Airport. Road workers were able to clean up and stabilise the roadway to allow motorbikes to pass in both directions over Patong Hill a week later on October 26.

Then on November 4, small cars were permitted to travel over Patong Hill before the road was fully reopened to vans and pickup trucks with restrictions.

The mayor said the two alternative routes to Patong beach – Go-kart in Kathu district to Chao Phor Sue shrine in Patong, and Wat Bang Thong in Kathu to Chao Phor Sue shrine – were not far from Patong but the roads were rather steep and were best used in times of emergency.

Chai-anan added that he is still in talks with the provincial electricity office about installing lighting along the two routes.

Source - The Thaiiger

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#Cambodia / #Vietnam stops nine overloaded trucks with illegal lumber

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Authorities in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province have recently stopped at least nine overloaded timber trucks crossing into the country from the Kingdom, despite the Cambodian government ostensibly banning wood exports to its eastern neighbor, according to a Vietnamese news report.

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The report, published earlier this month by Baomoi.com, which is described online as a government-owned news outlet, complains about the danger of the overburdened timber trucks from Cambodia regularly barrelling down Vietnam’s National Road 19, which connects to the border crossing in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadav district, and refers to lax enforcement by Vietnamese authorities of the vehicles exceeding their weight limit.

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Chief traffic inspector for Gia Lai province Nguyen Dang Hung told the outlet that his forces had stopped nine trucks carrying twice their legal capacity. In those cases, Vietnamese authorities unloaded excess wood, temporarily seized the trucks and fined the drivers about $28, it stated.

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Not mentioned in the article is the fact that, since an export ban on timber was announced in January last year, no timber trucks from Cambodia should be present. Cambodian officials have repeatedly asserted that the timber trade with Vietnam has stopped following the ban and subsequent crackdown. 

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The article presents figures attributed to the Gia Lai People’s Committee from late last year stating that 16 companies in the province had been permitted to import 300,000 cubic metres of timber from Cambodia.

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The Post was unable to reach a representative at the Gia Lai People’s Committee to verify the figure or establish its timeframe.

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Recently released Vietnamese customs data collected by the US-based NGO Forest Trends, however, revealed that last year, Vietnam imported 139,306 cubic metres of uncut logs and just over 171,000 cubic metres of sawn wood from Cambodia.

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Ratanakkiri provincial border police chief Heng Ratana, however, dismissed the report and figures. “Through my border there is no [timber smuggling],” he said, in comments later echoed by O’Yadav district police chief Mao Sann.

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“The report is not right. If there were cases of [wood smuggling] journalists would report about it,” Sann said on the phone. “Each month we have cracked down on many cases. This month we stopped about five or six.”

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However, saying timber flows to Vietnam were increasing, long-time anti-logging activist Marcus Hardtke called on the government to clarify its export ban policy and its legal status. “The trade to Vietnam is alive and well. If anything, it’s getting worse this dry season,” he said.

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Source - PhnomPenhPost