Phuket Network of Poor lobby Governor for help

Phuket Network of Poor lobby Governor for help
Nattha Thepbamrung


Flowers for the Governor from one of the network lobbyists.

PHUKET: -- More than 200 Phuket villagers gathered at provincial hall yesterday morning to file a complaint about their quality of life, covering issues of land, electricity and water supply.

The villagers said they are placing their hopes for improvement in the hands of the new Governor, Nisit Jansomwong.

The gathering was organised by the Phuket Network of Poor People’s Rights and Development and included villagers from 20 communities across the island under network coordinator Wuttipon Thipwong.

“We want to introduce ourselves to the new governor and we want him to help push the committee that was set up previously to look at our problems,” Ms Wuttipon explained.

After the meeting, the governor told the representatives and local authorities responsible for each area to put together detailed information about each issue and to report on progress made by existing committees to come up with solutions. He set November 10 as the date for a follow-up meeting.

“This issue is one of the important policies of the government and the Ministry of Interior, with the aim of getting rid of social inequity,” said the governor.

“There are major issues for these people, such as land and accommodation. Many of them live on public land, among mangroves or have conflicts with private owners holding land papers – such as the sea gypsies in Rawai.

“These problems directly affect their quality of life as they cannot have house registrations, or electricity or water supply.”

However, he said, the Cooperative Committee for Community Land Paper has approved community land papers for 11 of the 17 communities who have filed applications.

“I have asked representatives from the communities to join the working committee so that we can understand the problems clearly. More officials will also be assigned to solve major issues such as power and water supply.”

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-network-of-poor-lobby-governor-for-help-49369.php


-- Phuket News 2014-10-28