Number of ministers miss Cabinet meet in Lop Buri

A number of ministers were absent from the mobile Cabinet meeting yesterday in Lop Buri, including those who had to attend the House deliberation of the amnesty bill.

Among the absentees was Deputy Finance Minister Tanusak Lekuthai. The Cabinet thus postponed a decision on the Bt1.4-billion budget for the upgrade in the farmers’ credit card scheme, which is under his supervision.

“He was expected to explain details of the project, but after a while he didn’t show up. Thus this agenda item was withdrawn,” said Government Spokesman Teerat Ratanasevi.

Tanusak and Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawut Saikuar were among ministers who attended the House of Representatives’ deliberation on the amnesty bill, which ended at 4.20 yesterday morning. Though he also attended the House session, Deputy Public Health Minister Sorawong Thienthong managed to show up in Lop Buri, but with obvious fatigue. 

Commerce Minister Niwatthumrong Boonsongpaisan was engaged on an overseas trip, while Science and Technology Minister Peeraphan Palusuk and Labour Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung were on leave. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong and Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt attended only briefly, as they had to get to Nakhon Sawan, where a roadshow on the Bt2-trillion investment programme was to take place.

The Cabinet will convene again in Bangkok on Tuesday. On November 29 and 30, a mobile Cabinet meeting is scheduled in Songkhla, the last mobile meeting this year. Ministers will visit five southern provinces. 

According to Teerat, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has instructed Cabinet secretary Ampon Kittiampon and the National Economic and Social Development Board to complete the itinerary of mobile Cabinet meetings for next year. Yingluck said the agenda for the meetings should involve large projects that could create concrete benefits for local residents, rather than small projects as in this year’s meetings. 

In Lop Buri, Yingluck also instructed ministers to work closely with provincial offices in finalising the budgeting for the 2015 fiscal year. The plans should focus on five areas – the national strategy, preparation for the Asean Economic Community, the Bt2-trillion infrastructure investment, the water-management plan, and agricultural and city zoning. 

By December 17, the National Economic and Social Development Board will collect proposals from provincial clusters for the Cabinet’s consideration.

Despite the absence of some ministers, the Cabinet yesterday approved 31 development projects for the upper part of the Central Region, worth Bt16.4 billion. Twenty-one projects worth Bt522 million can be undertaken immediately, to be financed by the central budget. The Budget Bureau is responsible for the budget allocation, upon receiving project details from involved government units. 

The Transport Ministry was tasked to study the proposed Andaman coast railway further. 

Also considered at the meeting was a memorandum of understanding between Thailand’s and Russia’s energy ministries, which calls for cooperation in those areas involving oil, natural gas, coal, electricity, renewable and alternative energy, and others. 

Under the MoU endorsed by the Cabinet, the two sides will set up a joint working group to devise long-term strategies and propose measures necessary to support their strategies. The MoU will cover a three-year period renewable for another three years, but the life of projects forged under the MoU could be longer. 

The Cabinet also decided to allow government officials to switch back to the old pension scheme. Thailand has two pension schemes for civil servants – the Old Age Pension, a pay-as-you-go-financed state pension scheme, and the Government Pension Fund, a defined-contribution pension. 

When the GPF was introduced in 1997, central government employees were given the choice between it and the old civil-service scheme. However, those who joined the GPF have called for changes, after the fund showed losses after the 2008 financial crisis.