The donation was made yesterday (Feb 27) afternoon at the PTC campus in a ceremony attended by Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana, Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket office Chief Sophon Thongsai, Rassada administrative officers, and other relevant officers.
PTC Director, Adisak Chatchawet, told The Phuket News, “I had noticed that people were struggling a lot due to ongoing water outages in Rassada. Students from the college and I went to inspect the Rassada area and found people were really struggling to actually carry and transport water supplies.
“Generally, they were only able to carry small amounts of water back to their houses following the water truck deliveries and the trucks were unable to get close enough to the houses to deliver larger amounts,” Mr Adisak commented.
“It was clear they needed trolleys to be able to transfer sufficient water supplies from the main road to their houses, something they did not have.
“As part of the ‘Fix it Centre’ initiative by the Office of the Vocational Education Commission of Ministry of Education, the students at the college united to make 20 water trolleys to assist the residents.
“If anyone else requires similar assistance please call to 076-221679 and 076-211343,” he added.
Governor Phakaphong said, “Phuket is now experiencing dry season and some people are facing a water outage, mostly in areas where water pressure is too low to distribute to sufficiently. We’ve coordinated with local officers to send water trucks to the areas to help.
“However, at this stage, I want everyone to use water sparingly until the time when the rain season comes,” he said.
Governor Phakaphong added, “Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) officers are looking for new water sources and buying water from private companies.
"A budget request has been filed to the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) to enable spending on the building of a water gate in Khok Tanod, Cherng Talay,” he concluded.
The hard-hit area of Soi Kingkaew in Rassada, one of the poorest and most densely populated residential areas on the island, has been receiving deliveries of water supplies by Rassada Municipality trucks since Jan 15, Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana admitted (see story here).