The Phuket Marine Office issued an order on Wednesday (Nov 2) for Kamala Bay Venture Co Ltd to remove the jetty. The order signed by Phuket Marine Office Director Surat Sirisaiyad.
The order gave the company three days to remove the jetty. The jetty was removed last Friday (Nov 4).
In the order issued on Wednesday, Phuket Marine Chief Surat confessed that his office gave permission to install the jetty, but started that after an investigation by local marine conservation officials it was agreed that it was best to have the jetty removed.
“The floating jetty damaged more than 600 square metres of corals, which breaches Section 17 of Marine and Coastal Resources Management Act (2015),” Chief Surat wrote in the order.
“The permit issued to the company also listed conditions, including that if the jetty affects the marine environment, the company must seek a solution and report the incident to the Marine Office and the company must follow other laws and regulations regarding installing jetty,” Mr Surat added.
“After reviewing the conditions and the conclusion of the investigation by marine conservation officials we decided to revoke the permit issued on August 23 and (now) order the company to remove the floating jetty and the concrete jetty (sic) from the beach within three days of receiving this letter.”
The order made no mention of whether or not the Phuket Marine Office would be pursuing Legal action against the company, as threatened Suchart Rattanariangsri, Director of the DMCR’s Marine Resource Conservation Division at the Sixth Marine Coastal Resources Administration Office (Phuket).
When investigating the jetty, he was adamant his office will file charges against the hotel – despite the Phuket Marine Office issuing its permit of approval. (See story here.)