THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Talks advance over Doi Suthep

Talks advance over Doi Suthep

Two committees start talks to resolve details over judges’ residences

CHIANG MAI citizen networks have announced what they see as the first step towards ending the controversy over the judges’ residence project at Doi Suthep Mountain, as two joint committees have been set up to look at the issues of healing the “scar on the face of Doi Suthep” and settle the legal issues of demolition of state property.
The coordinator of Doi Suthep Forestland Reclamation Network, Teerasak Rupsuwan, said after the latest meeting between citizen groups and local authorities in Chiang Mai yesterday that the reclamation of the encroached land on the Doi Suthep forest has officially started, as the public sector and authorities have already reached the agreement to return the Court of Justice’s housing project for judges back to forestland.
Teerasak said that representatives of public sector and related official agencies will work together on two newly formed joint committees with a mission to heal the encroached land and solve the legal issues that may arise from the clearing out of the state’s properties.
“The first committee will have the task to reforest the land back to its former state as part of the Doi Suthep forest. The Royal Forest Department will take the lead on this mission, as they will provide the tree seedlings, reforestation technique and officers, while the citizen networks will support them with other help they may need,” Teerasak said.
“Meanwhile, the second committee is exclusively set up to deal with any legal issues that may arise, as according to the law, this project was legally proceeded and authorised. This committee will have the major task to make sure that the revocation of this state project and reclamation effort will also be legal.”
He said that from now on the army would build a new access road to the encroached land to avoid using the entrance of the Appeals Court Region 5. 
As well, surveying land at the site of justice officials’ housing project will start this Thursday to draw the line of the former forestland and identify the area that has encroached into the forest.
“There will be an official ceremony on May 27 to mark the start of reforestation effort. On that day, the representatives from related agencies and people from Chiang Mai and elsewhere will plant the trees together,” he said.
However, he said yesterday’s meeting did not discuss deeper details, such as the cost of the entire land reclamation effort, as he the meeting was merely to talk about draft plans and frameworks for the cooperation between the public and the authorities.
Meanwhile, the Court of Justice’s spokesperson, Suriyan Hongwilai, said that the agency was currently waiting for the official letter from the government on the solution to this issue.
Suriyan said that Court of Justice was ready to comply with the government’s final decision.
 

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