The Pattaya City Council is suffering sticker shock over budget requests for construction projects, saying nothing will get funded until it investigates estimates it considers too high.
Council Chairman Anan Ankanawisan questioned a 46-million-baht request from Pattaya School No. 7 for a new four-story building. In 2016, the school got 35 million baht to build a seven-floor school building – which remains unfinished – and Anan said he can’t understand why a smaller building costs over 25 percent more.
Councilman Thanet Supornsahatrangsi likewise balked at a 5.2-million-baht request to renovate the city hall cafeteria. He acknowledged nothing has been spent on the canteen since it opened a decade ago, but 5.2 million baht is too high a menu price, he complained.
The cafeteria doesn’t need to be luxurious, he said as long as it’s clean and functional.
Unspoken, but heavily insinuated, is that the budget requests are inflated by corruption. Anan said city hall will first investigate why School No. 7 is asking for a new school building when it hasn’t finished building the one it already started. Next it will check the quality of the materials that contractors are supplying to be sure they are not overcharging.
Finally, he vowed, Pattaya will open up bidding to more companies to serve the city, instead of relying on contractors that have had city business locked up for a while.
