Opponents vow to fight condo ruling
Play
Residents win compensation, but say EIA was illegitimate
AN activist group and residents of Soi Chinnaket in northern Bangkok vowed to appeal the Central Administrative Court’s decision not to revoke the construction permit for a Bt2.8-billion condominium project in the area.
“We will lodge an appeal,” Stop Global Warming Association (SGWA) president Srisuwan Janya said yesterday after the court issued its ruling.
The Aspire Ngam Wong Wan project in Bangkok’s Lak Si district has been blamed for spreading dust and creating a major disturbance. Debris including a 10kg steel object has repeatedly fallen on nearby homes, causing property damage.
In response to a complaint from residents and the SGWA, the Central Administrative Court yesterday ordered Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to pay Bt35,503 in compensation to each of seven complainants who live on Soi Chinnaket, due to the negligence of the Lak Si District Office director.
As part of the verdict, the court requires the Lak Si District Office directors to ensure that the Value Property Development Co Ltd, a subsidiary of AP (Thailand), will strictly comply with its environmental impact assessment for the project.
“But our point is this: the EIA was illegitimately conducted,” Srisuwan said. “And we believe the construction permit for this project should be cancelled.”
According to the residents, the EIA should have been prepared based on the opinions of people living within a 50 metre radius of the condo site.
The EIA for this project, which received the green light in 2010, relied on information from people living much farther away, they said.
Construction has been suspended for a few years in response to a court injunction and cannot resume until the final court ruling.
By the time the court injunction was issued, a lot of work had already been carried out. If the project goes ahead, it would have 1,458 residential units.
In response to the court’s ruling, AP (Thailand) Plc said in a press release yesterday it would develop the Aspire Ngam Wong Wan project under the supervision of Lak Si District Office.
Ninety per cent of construction had already been done and it planned to transfer units to customers next year. The project had recorded presales of 15 per cent of the total project value of Bt2.8 billion, it said.
