BANGKOK, Nov 27 – Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom brushed aside an allegation that the rice pledging scheme has incurred a Bt20 billion loss to the government, but vowed to stop creating financial burdens for the state in the future.
In his clarification during the censure debate in the House of Representatives on Monday, he said he was unaware of a politician’s ownership of rice mills which joined the rice scheme.
He promised to investigate the opposition’s allegation and admitted that random checks at rice mills found cheating on weight and humidity measurements.
Mr Boonsong claimed that the government has given more transparency and clearer information on rice deals than the previous government.
Deputy Prime Minister Chalern Yubumrung, in his capacity as chairman of a committee investigating corruption in rice pledging, told lawmakers that the authorities found 81 corruption cases in which 123 people have been implicated.
Legal actions have been taken against 98 suspects while 25 are still at large, he said, adding that two cases are in court trials and 55 others remain under investigation.
Opposition Democrat MP Arkom Engchuan said some government agencies including the Anti-Corruption Commission have warned the government of malfeasance in the rice pledging scheme but the government chose to ignore them.
In Angthong province, he said, the Commerce Ministry assigned three rice mill operators to transport rice from Roi Et province and each rice mill was subjected to pay Bt2 million in exchange for the deal.
