PM's office seeks fort eviction suspension

PM's office seeks fort eviction suspension

A cyclist peruses the stylised poster erected by City Hall to show its plans after it starts bulldozing Mahakan Fort next week. The eviction notice is at far right. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)
A cyclist peruses the stylised poster erected by City Hall to show its plans after it starts bulldozing Mahakan Fort next week. The eviction notice is at far right. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)

The Office of the Prime Minister will ask City Hall to suspend plans to evict the community living at Mahakan Fort, an official at the office said Wednesday.

City authorities have set a Sept 3 deadline for the eviction of the community as it prepares to turn the area into a public park despite criticism.

In doing so, it ignored a development plan, proposed by the community, which is based on a land-sharing concept in which the fort will be turned into a living museum. City Hall still has ownership rights over the area, totalling about five rai, in Phra Nakhon district.

The official, who is attached to the complaints centre under the PM's office, met Wednesday with community representatives, led by town planning expert Paranee Sawasdiraksa.

He said the community presented its development plan to the centre which in turn will summon all agencies concerned, including City Hall and the Committee for the Conservation of Krung Rattanakosin and the Old Towns, to provide more information on the long-standing dispute.

The information would be collated and presented to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for consideration, the official said.

"We will contact City Hall, and ask it to suspend the eviction, in the next couple of days," he said.

"The dispute which has lasted for more than two decades is complicated and needs more time to be sorted out," the official said.

The meeting rekindled the Mahakan community's hopes that their proposal would be accepted by the state after more than 24 years of struggle.

"We submitted a petition on Aug 5, and this meeting [with the official] means the government has listened to us," said Intira Wittayasomboon, a community coordinator.

The community also submitted to the government a research study, conducted by Silpakorn University, on how the community can become a living museum.

City Hall has so far refused to listen to concerns by residents backed by various agencies including the National Human Rights Commission, academics, and business operators, who urged it to incorporate the community into the park development project.

Asked about the likelihood the government would step in to seek a suspension, a City Hall source insisted the city authorities would stick to the eviction plan.

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