Koh Larn Development Suspended As City Surveys Construction

Koh Larn development suspended as city surveys construction

PATTAYA: -- Pattaya officials have halted development of four plots of land on Koh Larn as inspectors investigate protests by island residents that private companies had violated property boundaries and environmental laws.

Following a Pattaya City Hall protest by 660 islanders Oct. 5, Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome, Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh, members of the city council and various bureaucrats inspected the disputed land Oct. 14. Together with Koh Larn Village Chief Booncherd Boonying, they surveyed 320 rai of hillside above Samae Beach that has been deforested and flattened to make way for condominium and resort.

Residents had protested that the land was razed improperly and that the trees removed had been planted as part of royal reforestation project. However, Itthiphol informed villagers they were wrong and that the royally protected trees were elsewhere on the island. Itthiphol added that Pattaya Pavillion Grand Condotel Co., which had leased the land for 25 years from the city, had stayed inside its allotted boundaries.

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-- Pattaya Mail 2011-10-28