Prayut's 'war on corruption' will kick off soon
ON MONDAY, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will "declare war" on graft to reinforce his government's claimed commitment to carve out corruption.
Representatives from the government, private and third sectors, foreign agencies, diplomats and the media will be invited to Government House to listen to him reaffirm his regime’s mission. His speech will be televised live at provincial halls across the country.
“The PM will talk about his personal perception about corruption before he took over the country’s administration and how he sees it after becoming the PM, what problems he faces and how is he going to solve them,” Sangsit Phiriyarangsan, chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Committee’s public relations subcommittee, said yesterday.
Manas Jamveha chairman of the subcommittee on integrity-pact liaisons, said his committee started by looking to cut costs in Mass Rapid Transit’s Blue Line extension project and the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority’s procurement of 489 buses powered by natural gas for vehicles.
It was able to cut the cost of the NGV buses by Bt1 million per bus from Bt4 million, he claimed.
His panel has requested 20 ministries to provide information on their large-scale projects for checking and 36 projects are under its consideration.
The NAC has also decided that all state agencies will begin replacing the e-auction system, whereby they will purchase supplies under the specifications and reference prices provided by the Comptroller-General’s Department. This will start on October 1 with the Finance Ministry, three hospitals and nine departments.
“Any company wanting to sell its products can include information on its products in the department’s database. All developed countries have opted for this system because it will help governments save money,” he said.
Courses for teachers
Juree Vichit-vadakarn, chairman of the NAC’s subcommittee on conscience and awareness building, said the main committee had decided to provide three courses on “grow up and not corrupt” to teachers under the jurisdiction of the Education Ministry and local administrations in June, July and August.
Tortrakul Yomnak, chairman of the subcommittee on corruption prevention, said Prayut would ask all state agencies to provide information on how to access public information because the disclosure of official information is the best prevention against corruption. The Electronic Government Agency would gather official information for everyone to access.
The second list of state officials suspected of graft has reached Prayut, said Prayong Preeyachit, secretary-general of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission.
The list had been approved by four agencies – the PACC, the Auditor-General’s Office, the Department of Special Investigation and the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
He said he forwarded the list to Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya, who submitted it to the PM.
The first list identified more than 100 names and the second one had about the same number, he said.
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