Sukhumbhand to testify before house

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra has been summoned to testify today before the House committee on suppression of corruption as the Pheu Thai party continues to hammer away at the Democratruled Bangkok Metropolitan Administration over the handling of concessions for the BTS Skytrain.

Pheu Thai MP Jirayu Huangsap said Sukhumbhand will be asked to clarify the BMA’s granting of a 30year extension of the concession to operate the Skytrain to Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company Limited (BTSC). The BTS contract was initially set to expire in 2029, until earlier this month when the BMA announced the extension of the concession to make BTSC the operator of the service until 2042.
Jirayu added that the Department of Special Investigation is continuing to pursue the case and that he was confident the BMA would be found of wrongdoing.
“And if the Interior Ministry rules that the sole authority to grant BTS service and concession to operator BTSC actually belongs to the ministry, not to the BMA, the extension to the entire BMABTSC contract will be voided,” Jirayu added.
Bangkok Deputy Governor Theerachon Manomaiphibool said he would appear today in place of Sukhumbhand, who just returned from an overseas trip. BMA officials will also testify before other agencies, including antigraft and auditing panels, he said.
Theerachon insisted that the BTS operation under the BMA’s concession has been legal since 1985 when the skytrain project was initiated. It is not violation of a 1992 jointventure law, which cannot be enforced retroactively, he added.
The 30year extension, which was worth Bt187 billion, was not reported to the Interior Ministry beforehand because the deal was regarded as a “deployment contract”, Theerachon explained, not “the extension of a concession”, which would require the Interior Ministry’s approval.
Sukhumbhand would make a public statement about the issue in the coming week, Theerachon said, adding that the BMA had obtained the necessary approvals from the Bangkok City Assembly, which is comprised of Pheu Thai Party councillors
Theerachon said any Pheu Thai MP still confused about BMA rules and regulations should resign from their parliamentary posts and run for councillors’ seats in the next election.
Speaking earlier yesterday, Sukhumbhand said his remarks to reporters that he would run in the next gubernatorial race was not his official announcement. “I don’t need to hide my intent for running for the second term. I only express my stance,” he said.