Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay (center) leads
Pattaya administrators on an inspection visit of the flood-drainage work
at Wat Boonkanjanaram Soi 4.
Warunya Thongrod
Contractors have begun connecting underground drainage pipes
around the Mae La-Or Market with a new wastewater-treatment plant in
Jomtien Beach and Pattaya officials are predicting the work will be
on-time and problem-free.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay reviewed the ongoing construction May 21 at
Wat Boonkanjanaram Soi 4. Work will continue through mid-June, 8 a.m. to
midnight on both that street and Wat Boonkanjanaram Soi 5 with both
closed to traffic.
Construction calls for placing 6-meter-long tanks to accommodate storm
water on both sois and the water routed to the under-construction plant
on Soi Wat Boonkanjanaram. Launched in 2010, the plant first was set for
completion in 2012. The new completion date is set for Aug. 4 and
Verawat promised fines against the contractor of 1.4 million baht a day
if work runs late.
The market has been at the center of the area’s flooding problem, as
drainage systems on either side of the area did not connect. Hence water
backed up and flooded neighborhoods.
Verawat pledged that he and Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome will personally
monitor progress of the work and have encouraged contactors Kijakrn Thai
with Khawat-SG to keep area residents informed as well.
The deputy mayor said he did not expect the pipe work to cause water
outages in the Jomtien area. However, if they do, the problem will be
fixed immediately, he said.
“When the work is completed, water will drain more efficiently from sois
5-9, Soi Chularat and Sukhumvit Road since before there were no
connections at this spot,” he said. “Hence, this area always floods plus
Mae La-Or would always face problems.”
