The National Institute for Emergency Medicine (NIEM) has allocated a budget of 969 million baht to settle overdue payments for emergency response services provided by rescue foundations. The payments, which were due from October last year to February this year, will be cleared in August and September, ahead of the new fiscal year starting in October.
The decision to release the budget comes in response to complaints from eight rescue foundations in the Northeast, stating that they had not received financial support from NIEM for several months. NIEM had experienced delays in payment processing due to a glitch in its database system, causing the institute to be unable to reimburse the foundations promptly.
To address the issue, NIEM contracted National Telecom (NT) in March to streamline its database and improve the efficiency of fund disbursement. While the manual processing during the revamp contributed to the delay, NIEM’s deputy spokesman, Karan Sriwattanaburapha, assured that the new payment database will be more secure and accessible.
The suspended financial support had forced rescue foundations to suspend their emergency response services, which were offered to the public free of charge. Some foundations, such as the Phutthatham Hook 31 Foundation in Nakhon Ratchasima, had to halt emergency ambulance services due to a lack of funds for fuel. Despite accepting public donations, the foundation is currently over two million baht in debt. Another affected foundation, Sawang Metta Thamma Sathan, located in Nakhon Ratchasima’s capital district, also faced similar budget difficulties.
NIEM affirmed that it aims to clear the overdue payments before the start of the new fiscal year, expressing gratitude to the dedicated rescue workers and volunteers who continue to serve the public in challenging circumstances. (NNT)
