Younobe Petchdee, the head of Koh Maphrao village and Vikunda Quilty, representing The Village Coconut Island resort met with Governor Tri Augkaradacha this morning (June 12) to plead for his help in getting mains electricity for the island.
The island was supposed to have received mains electricity in October last year, in a B46-million project that would have seen a 970-metre submarine pipe laid from Laem Hin, the closest point on Phuket island.
Mr Younobesaid, “I can’t stand it any more. My villagers are distressed and disappointed. They have to pay B120 a day, or about B3,600 a month for power from generators.
“The 300 villagers live with a poor electricity supply, yet they have to pay a lot for it.”
In addition, he said, the local school and the island’s four hotels need a good power supply.
Mr Younobe said, “We have sent many petitions to the Province officials over the past years, and followed up many times. This is the first time that have I met everyone relevant to our problem.
“In this meeting, the petition is in the Governor’s hands. I hope now the villagers can get electricity and won’t have to pay expensive rates anymore.”
Mrs Vikunda, Manager of Administration and Legal Affairs at The Village Coconut Island, told The Phuket News, “I also sent petitions to the Provincial Office – I even hand-delivered some of them – but there was no response because the project was stopped by the environmental impact assessment (EIA).
“We have been waiting for mains electricity for two years. The resort paid for a generator and we spend B5 million a month for fuel in the high season. The resort shares power with the villagers, the school, other resorts and the jetty – it was all so dark before.
“But we may not be able to go on sharing power with the rest of the island. The resort is open for guests, and we have more projects coming up, with more expense and obligations, all of which we will need electricity for.”
Gov Tri asked Vijaan Chuayplod the chief of the Provincial Electricity Authority if things could be speeded up.
Mr Vijaan’s reply was not encouraging: he said that it would take a year to 18 months before work can start on installing the underwater cable.
He explained after the meeting that the Koh Maphrao project had been delayed because it had been bundled together with two other island power projects, for Koh Naka Yai in Phuket, and Koh Phratong in Phang Nga.
Although the EIAs for Maphrao and Naka had now been completed the one for Koh Phratong had not.
However, Koh Phratong has now been separated from the other two, to allow them to go ahead.
Now the delay is a budgetary one, Mr Vijaan said. “Originally the Koh Maphrao project called for a 70-square-millimetre cable, but we believe we need 120 square millimetres to allow for future demand.
“So we are now waiting for approval of the additional budget, along with two or three other processes that have to be completed. It may take a year to 18 months before we can start installing the cable.”