Support grows for threatened trees
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Another public hearing has been arranged for March 18 on the expansion plans for Nan's Highway No 2 that requires the felling of teak trees along the road. The scheme has led to protests by residents and environmentalists.
Nan Highway No 2 director Pracharn Malithong said yesterday he had invited all sides to the upcoming hearing to find a solution to the Nan-Thawangpa Road widening dilemma. The nine-metre road has to be widened to 12 metres for a 15-kilometre stretch.
The hearing will be held at the Tambon Phasingha administrative organisation office in Muang district. Officials will listen to the majority of Nan people and do as the public wishes, Pracharn said.
The office earlier halted its work, which had already cleared some trees along a 7-km stretch, pending further clarity on what to do with the 800-metre-long “tree tunnel” area.
The provincial highway authority claimed earlier a public hearing on the project had been held in November 2013, at which over 90 per cent of the people in the area agreed with the road expansion plans.
