Rawai Mayor Aroon Soros confirmed to The Phuket News today (Mar 6) that officials had confirmed three specific breaches of the building permit.
“The first is the swimming pool overlooking the sea. The second is the balcony, and the third is a section that connects the buildings, which I had already order to be removed in 2017,” Mayor Aroon said.
“I have issued an order suspending all construction at the site and ordering the project owner to make the necessary corrections within 30 days,” he added.
“The balcony and the section connecting the buildings must be removed in 30 days, but the owner can submit an application with Rawai Municipality for construction of the swimming pool to be approved,” he said.
If the corrections are not completed within 30 days, the owner can apply to have more time, Mayor Aroon confirmed.
However, he added, “If the order is ignored, I will revoke the building permit and file a formal complaint with police that this project is in contravention of an official order.”
Mayor Aroon noted that he visited the site yesterday (Mar 5) and confirmed that construction had stopped.
“I also filed a report at Chalong Police Station confirming that I had inspected the construction,” he explained.
Mayor Aroon Soros today also recounted the project’s chequered history and contractor’s recurring breach of the approved building permit.
“In 2016, Rawai Municipality allowed the project to construct all four buildings because the right legal documents were presented and a construction permit was issued in accordance with the law,” Mayor Aroon explained.
“Later, in 2017, people filed complaints that the project blocked the view, so Rawai Municipality officials went to check,” he added.
“They found that the project construction had exceeded the building permit. Parts had been built near the road and the four buildings were connected to each other, so I ordered the project owner to remove the parts that exceed the permit, and the project owner complied.
“The project manager then submitted a revised construction plan which reduced the buildings to only two levels each in response to the complaints that buildings blocked the view.
“But after that, panels were installed so that the ongoing construction could not be seen,” he said.
“So in early February I ordered Rawai Municipality staff to inspect the project again. The staff reported back to me that the project was not in accordance with the construction permit, so I ordered them to report which parts (again) had exceeded the building permit,” he said.
See also 'Phuket’s coastal eyesore construction is legal, confirms mayor' (Click here.)