A water management project has been suspended amid an investigation into alleged irregularities during its bidding process.
According to Government Spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, the Ministry of Finance has been tasked with conducting an investigation on the 25-billion baht the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) water management project. The project is suspended pending an investigation into allegations that bidding regulations were changed to allow a specific company to participate in the process.
The winning bid for the water management project was from Wong Siam Construction Co Ltd and the project was supposed to be finalized by the Treasury Department on Tuesday (3 May).
The allegations of altered regulations were leveled by Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) MP Pichet Sathirachawal, who said the terms of reference for the bidding were amended to allow the winning company to participate. He claims that the company may not be able to replace the current holder company in charge of water distribution.
Deputy Finance Minister Santi Promphat, who oversees both the project and the bidding process, has denied the MP’s allegations. He said Wong Siam outbid the current concessionaire for the project and assured that the Treasury Department took all necessary steps to ensure that the bidding was conducted in a transparent manner. He also said he was confident that any doubts about the issue would be dispelled if raised by opposition parties during the next censure debate. (NNT)
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