Confirmation of the extended deadline came yesterday when Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong urged the Phuket office of the Highways Department to expedite the work to upgrade the intersection, located at the junction of Route 4026 and Route 4031. (See map below.)
The work needed to be completed as quickly as possible as the project has been causing serious traffic delays since August last year, Gov Norraphat pointed out.
Under the government concession, contractor Morakot Chumphon Construction Co Ltd had 240 days to complete the works, from August 1, 2016 to March 28, 2018.
The work included expanding the width of the traffic lanes, installing roadside drains and making a footpath alongside the roads.
Although the contract is for B50mn, the work is to affect only 418 metres along Route 4026 and one kilometre along Route 4031, effectively 500m either side of the junction.
However, it was explained at the meeting yesterday that Morakot Chumphon Construction had been subjected to delays beyond their control, namely being forced to wait for power lines and telecommunications cables to be moved by other local government agencies before they could continue the work.
So far the company has only completed 35% of the project, the governor was told.
This project has now been given an extra 120 days to complete the works, providing a new deadline of July 26, 2018 for the project.
Under the government contract, the contractor is supposed to be held liable to a fine of B124,532.50 per day for failing to complete the project on time. However, it was not made clear yesterday whether Morakot Chumphon Construction would be subjected to any fines for late completion.