NEARLY 30 NEW LIFTS PLANNED AT BANGKOK TRANSIT STATIONS
NEARLY 30 NEW LIFTS PLANNED AT BANGKOK TRANSIT STATIONS
After hundreds of formal complaints from disabled-rights groups and demand for compensation amounting to approximately US$11.8 million, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) says it plans to install 29 lifts at Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) SkyTrain stations — 19 for people with disabilities and 10 general purpose, the Bangkok Post reports. BTS said it is investing approximately US$7.9 million to add 19 disabled-access lifts at 16 stations along the Green Line and 10 additional lifts at five additional stations. The Administrative Court ruled in 2015 that BMA and BTS make disabled-friendly improvements at 23 stations along the Sukhumvit Line within one year. Those adjustments are still incomplete, and the disabled-rights community remains skeptical of the latest plan.
LINDQUIST APPOINTED ALIMAK GROUP CFO
Tobias Lindquist has been appointed chief financial officer (CFO) of Alimak Group and a member of its management team, effective, at the latest, September 1. He currently is CFO at international education company English First (EF) and has been based in China for the past 10 years. Prior to that he held various positions at EF, 3IC Inc. and Ericsson. He holds BA degrees from Stockholm and Middlesex universities. Interim CFO Stefan Rinaldo will remain on as chief operational officer.
INDIAN LIGHTHOUSE MAKEOVERS TO INCLUDE ELEVATORS
The Indian government plans to transform 78 lighthouses in scenic locations into tourist attractions, with facilities including elevators, watersports facilities and restaurants, The Economic Times reports. Private partners will be enlisted to set up and maintain the tourism facilities, and The Directorate of General Lighthouses and Lightships will install the elevators. The government is seeking to identify 10 lighthouses with the potential to attract good footfall. Lighthouses near Mumbai and between India and Sri Lanka are among those being considered. The lighthouses are part of a larger plan to boost coastal tourism.
UNATTENDED TODDLER INJURES HAND IN ESCALATOR MISHAP
A toddler and his older brother were playing unattended on an escalator in a shopping mall in Zunyi City, southwestern China, when the younger child’s hand became trapped in the machinery, various news outlets, including The Sun, reported on May 22. Video footage shows the toddler lying face down as he’s carried up the escalator. One of his hands then became trapped in the metal floor panel at the top of the unit. Staff hit the emergency-stop button, and firefighters dismantled the floor-panel skirt to free the child’s hand. He was hospitalized with unknown injuries.
HIGH-RISE PROJECT WINS APPROVAL IN MELBOURNE
A high-rise development in Melbourne has won planning approval to begin construction, The Urban Developer reports. The AUD450-million (US$341-million), two-building project in the Queen Victoria Precinct will bring 300 apartment units (including 56 affordable homes) and a hotel. The plans, which were unveiled in 2017, include 38- and 10-story towers under development by PDG Corp., and construction is expected to begin in July. The city purchased the site in 2014 and will undertake millions of dollars in public-space improvements, including laneways and spaces for events. Site work has begun in preparation for construction beginning in July.
