The House of Representatives has approved the report on the study of the Land Bridge megaproject with a vote of 269 to 147. The ambitious Land Bridge project aims to develop transportation infrastructure to enhance the southern economic corridor by linking transportation between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea and constructing a seaport.
The meeting also saw 3 members of the opposition Move Forward party resigning from the commission responsible for the project. They argued that the report greatly overestimated the projected profits from the massive construction initiative.
One of the three Move Forward MPs who resigned from the commission claimed that the government may have placed too much trust in the overly optimistic assessment report from the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning without thoroughly considering aspects such as maritime routes and port growth calculations.
She stated that the report projected very high port revenues, claiming that port revenues would reach 58 billion baht in the first year without explaining the calculation behind this figure.
The other two Move Forward MPs who left the commission pointed out that the administration might have favored the more positive report from the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning over the one from the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council. They believed that a more practical approach would be to compare both reports, which would provide a better and unbiased analysis.
They also felt that the report was rushed and lacked comprehensive truth-finding, rendering it impractical for use. (NNT)
