Mr Rewat’s comments came at a press conference held yesterday (Sept 25) at the old Provincial Hall, on Narisorn Rd in Phuket Town, which is now used by the PPAO.
At the press conference it was explained that the PPAO and the Office of Natural Resources and Environment had worked together to create the new road as an alternative route for motorists to drive to and from Patong.
The project was launched as an immediate response to the landslide on Patong Hill in October last year.
Chalong Municipality and Patong Municipality jointly applied to the Royal Forest Department (RFD) to allow the road to be built where it crosses RFD land.
The PPAO used a Cabinet resolution on June 23, 2020 as its basis for being legally allowed to proceed with the project.
However, a claim made on social media saying that the PPAO had spent B50mn on building the road was untrue, the PPAO said in a post online yesterday (Sept 25).
“The total amount was B905,862, of which B808,500 was for fuel and B97,362 for crushed stone,” the PPAO said in its statement yesterday.
“In addition, the Phuket Highways Office supported the project by providing asphalt concrete [road] surfaces. Other government and private agencies also supported [the project] in various parts,” the statement added.
Of note, yesterday marked the first time the PPAO had publicly revealed any financial figures related to the project.
However, the figures fall far short of what the road would have actually cost.
Phuket MP Chalermpong Saengdee earlier this month vowed to raise in Parliament questions about the construction of the road.
The key issues are the issue of road damage and the cost-effectiveness of construction, Mr Chalermpong, MP for Phuket District 2, said in a post online.
The inspection revealed that the road condition was “seriously damaged” and “hardly usable”, Mr Chalermpong noted.
The road was built under a budget “of tens of millions of baht” after Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew last October declared the landslide on Patong Hill a “disaster”, Mr Chalermpong explained.
Though no people were injured or killed in the landslide, declaring the incident a “disaster” allowed access to the provincial disaster relief fund to pay for road improvements to alleviate the impact on essential traffic travelling to and from Patong, Phuket’s main tourism town.
Phuket’s standing “disaster relief fund” has long been reported as B50 million.
At last report of anyone at the PPAO being asked how much construction of the road would cost, PPAO Deputy President Tiwat Seedokbuab in March said, “We are still finalising it.”