The dredging is aimed to allow for more treated sewage to be discharged to the sea at a swifter rate.
A meeting, held on February 10 and chaired by Vice Governor Suthee Thongyam, was attended by representatives from both the public and private sector, on behalf of local hotels, resorts, fishermen and diving companies.
“We have planned to solve the problem [of untreated wastewater generated by the island’s popualtion] by dredging the canal to drain the wastewater and treat it before the water flows into the sea. The canal will be separated into three parts, the beginning part, middle and the end of the canal,” V/gov Suthee told the Phuket News after the meeting.
“The first part is close to land owned by Raya Father Resort and Baan Raya Resort and Spa. The hotels agreed to cooperate with official agents to dredge the canal.
“The second part is located near a mosque, and runs through public land. There is no problem for these two parts but the last part of the canal is near Rayaburi Resort, on both sides [of the canal]. The owners have not yet attended any meetings of the committee.”
He explained that owners of the resort have not given any indication that they would cooperate with the dredging plan, noting that land on one side of the canal is suspect of land encroachment, and that actual title boundaries are still unclear.
However, the Vice Governor said he wanted to focus on solving the filthy water issue first.
The first two parts will be dredged as soon as the committee can source the necessary machines, including an excavator, truck and high capacity pump, he said.
Sludge from the canal will be pumped to the canal’s sides to form dykes while water that is pumped out from the canal will be used to water plants around treat, or treated before being drained into the sea, he added.
“The filthy water is an urgent agenda that we need to hurry to finish. It will take around 1-2 weeks to complete once the machines are in place. We have to finish it before the rainy season comes and all the dirty water and sludge gets washed into the sea.
“For the last part of the canal, I will have to talk with Rayaburi owners about dredging the canal near their land,” said V/gov Suthee.
“After we’ve solved the urgent [wastewater] issue, land officers will go to survey the land that belongs to Rayaburi, to ensure boundaries are clear.”
He added that the plan to dredge the canal is only a temporary solution.
After the canal is cleared, hotels, resorts, restaurants or any business operators that drain waste ater into the canal must install a proper water treatment system, he insisted.
“Some resorts, especially restaurants, drain wastewater into the canal without any process or treatment.
“After the dredging is complete, we will send a team to inspect if all of them [those who discharge wastewater into the canal] have installed proper water treatment systems, and whether they are using it or not.”