Enrich Consultants Co Ltd held the public meeting at the Supalai Scenic Bay Resort & Spa in Ao Por, near Ao Kung, Pa Khlok, on Phuket’s northeast coast, yesterday (Nov 2).
Local residents expressed their continuing concern about the impact on the local marine ecosystem and called for clear support measures, said an official report of the meeting.
The project, located in Baan Ao Kung, Moo 9, Pa Khlok, will be located on nine plots of land covering an area in total of about 30 rai, all owned by the project owner, the consultants explained.
The project site will cover an area with a radius of at least five kilometres around the main project site, comprising areas within Tambon Pa Khlok and even reaching into Tambon Thepkrasattri.
The marina will have a semicircular concave mooring basin covering approximately 35,059.67 square metres, or 71.96% of the total project area, the meeting was told.
The mooring basin will have a depth of about eight metres. The basin will include the marina area and mooring buoys which altogether will be able to accommodate 75 boats.
A channel about 20 metres wide will be required to allow boats to access the marina.
Trees will be planted along the fence line of the project to improve the landscape and provide a buffer area to prevent potential impacts on neighbouring communities, the consultants explained.
However, public opinion expressed at the meeting focussed on the impact the marina project will have on local fishermen, as many of the local residents rely on fishing as their main source of income.
Preventing the effects of wastewater from the project, especially activities arising from ship repairs, and including the release of oil and harmful chemicals into the local environment, were also key points asked during the proceedings yesterday.
The consultants were asked to have people clarify more details about the various aspects of the construction of the project and its ongoing operations once built.
The B450 million “Ao Kung Marina and Sports Complex” project has faced concerted opposition from local residents for years.
Local conservationists in February petitioned Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew to carefully reconsider the outcome of a public meeting held where a majority of local residents, mostly fishermen, reportedly voted to approve dredging in the bay.
The call raised serious concerns about how that meeting was called and who specifically were asked to attend to cast their votes.
In 2018, the local environmental conservation group won a reprieve against the construction of a B450 million “Ao Kung Marina and Sports Complex” to be built at the bay, after Seaview Land Co Ltd, acting on behalf of Enrich Consultants Co Ltd, retracted its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) application.
The retraction followed Norraphat Plodthong, Phuket Governor at the time, calling for a new public hearing to be held on the project after dire concerns were raised over the devastating effect dredging a channel there may have on an aquatic field of corals nearby.
Ao Kung is home to a large reef comprising a variety of different corals. The small island in the bay features so much coral that it is called Koh Hei, literally ’Coral Island’.