CityNews – This morning, the land survey of the Judicial housing built on Doi Suthep began, after the judicial officers gave access to authorities.
Representative of all relevant government agencies, led by the Treasury Department, this morning conducted a land survey of the housing area, which includes 45 homes and 9 apartment buildings.
The survey was conducted to determine the exact boundaries of the land which must be returned to the forest, along with a plan to replant trees in the area to facilitate that plan.
No representatives of the Chiang Mai people were allowed to attend, as the land survey was strictly for officials only. However, members of the citizens against the judicial houses group set up on a piece of land outside of the area, waving green flags.
Teerasak Lubsuwan, the head of the citizens against the judicial houses group told reporters that the survey was also attended by military officers and representatives of the court. He said that the judicial officers only allowed access as long as they were refused entry, however he was happy with this decision, as he did not want to interrupt an official survey. As long as the results are in line with their estimations then there will be no problems.
The survey identified the land that must be returned to the forest, and found that the forest line cut through one of the apartment buildings. As a result, the authorities agreed to move the forest line to compensate for the apartment block to allow the courts to still use the apartment block, bringing the number of apartment blocks found outside of the designated forest area to four.
Tree planting is scheduled to start on May 27th. The plan is to first plant a pilot batch of vetiver grass to prevent mudslides. The process in returning the land from the Court of Appeal Region 5 to the Treasury Department is estimated to be finalised around July, after the construction has finished.