A week ago, officials in charge of Phuket’s Kamala Beach promised to take action on the black sewage that polluted the Pak Bang Channel. However, the disaster continues: everywhere there is a terrible stench, the water remains brilliantly black, and no one bathes. Phuket News reported on the situation.
The water at Kamala Beach on the island of Phuket stinks so much that no one eats at restaurants near the shore or enters the water. Locals complain of headaches, and tourists – a spoiled rest. Officials make promises but do nothing.
A resident said that Kamala’s problems with black sewage in the canal have worsened since the opening of a large hotel in the area, next to the Pak Bang Canal. The hotel representatives deny their involvement in water pollution. Officials have also long “requested” local companies to ensure sewage is treated before being discharged into the canal, which runs through key areas in the popular tourist town.
“Another factor that could have caused the problem is that during the improvement of the beach and the local park after the tsunami, the original natural flow of water from the hills was changed,” explained a resident. As a result, the situation began to repeat itself every year.
Last week – March 28 – the local authority said it intended to make the channel deeper so black sewage could flow more quickly across the beach and into the sea. For this, the head of the Katu district Titiwat Boonkej, and the head of the Kamala administration Jutoy Dumlak inspected the area of the ecological disaster.
After inspecting the beach, officials concluded they were dealing with a “red tide,” or plankton bloom. Soon the cleaning of red “algae” was carried out to return the shore to its former picturesque appearance. However, the issue of black sewage in the Pak Bang canal, which passes through Kamala and flows along the beach, remained unresolved.
District head Katu Titiwat admitted that the water turned black due to the accumulation of sewage discharged into the canal by local sources. In addition, the machine for cleaning water in the canal broke down. The official promised that in the near future an aerator will be installed to provide oxygen to the water in the canal.