Construction firm to get Bt9 bn over cancelled Klong Dan project
THE CABINET yesterday approved compensation of Bt9 billion for a consortium affected by the cancellation of the graft-plagued Klong Dan wastewater-treatment plant project. The funds will come from the central budget.
While the government is required to start paying compensation to the constructor of the now-cancelled project, it also has the right to seek compensation from officials found guilty of wrongdoing in relation to the project.
“The compensation will be paid in both baht and US dollars,” Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday after attending the Cabinet meeting.
Sansern said the compensation had been approved in response to a request from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.
The first instalment of Bt3.17 |billion plus US$21.71 million (Bt780.6 million), will be paid this Saturday.
The second instalment of Bt2.38 billion plus $16.28 million will be delivered by May 21 next year, and the final instalment, of the same amount as the second one, will be paid by November 21, 2016.
The Supreme Administrative Court issued a ruling in favour of the consortium, NVPSKG, late last year. In 1997, NVPSKG won a bid to design and build the Klong Dan facility from the Pollution Control Department.
In 2004, PCD lodged complaints against several companies that were part of the consortium, accusing them of fraud.
In 2009, several government officials and politicians, including former deputy interior minister Vatana Asavahame, were found guilty of corruption related to the project. Vatana is now on the run.
The Supreme Administrative Court, however, ruled that NVPSKG had completed its part of the job and that PCD had to pay for the work that had been completed.
Sansern said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had ordered the Wastewater Management Authority to study how to use the facilities already constructed so that money spent on the job is not wasted.
He also said that Prayut had emphasised that no such problem should ever take place again.
He added that the Pollution Control Dept would remain in charge of handling legal proceedings against those found guilty of causing damage over the Klong Dan project.
A source said a fact-finding committee established by the previous government had already identified the culprits and set an amount of compensation they should be held responsible for.
