Shukaku’s drain

Developer Shukaku Inc almost certainly won’t begin planned drainage work at its Boeung Kak site this month because the government has yet to approve its plans, a company representative said yesterday. Shukaku said on December 2 that it would break ground on a drainage system and corporate office before the year’s end. But formal permission has not yet been obtained after City Hall sent back Shukaku’s building plans, insisting on “minor” changes. “We were hoping to start this month,” said Amu Pillay, Shukaku’s head of corporate communications and public relations. “We can only start when we get official approval from the government agencies.” Shukaku had resubmitted plans with the requested changes made, Pillay said. The company’s efforts to push forward with development at Boeung Kak – from where thousands have been evicted since 2008 – follow the flooding of villagers’ houses to the east of the site during the recent rainy season. Seven of them were jailed for one year last month while protesting City Hall’s lack of response to the flooding. On December 10, the Post published details of a leaked report from Shukaku in which it warned that a severe rainstorm could result in the deaths of local residents because drainage pipes City Hall had installed on the eastern side of Boeung Kak were too small. “Loss of life and property could occur if a significant storm occurs in the next few years,” the report says. “[T]he finished system will not have sufficient capacity to handle a 5-year storm episode.”