BANGKOK, 15 March 2013 The Ministry of Transport, which is in charge of the two trillion baht for the government’s infrastructure investment, is piloting a “morality agreement” and forming a transparency committee to inspect the spending of the budget.
Transport Minister Chatchart Sitthiphan on Friday approved the morality agreement pilot project, a collaboration between the government, anti-corruption organizations and observers from both the public and private sectors. Although the agreement will not have any legal binding, it will encourage all parties bidding for the two-trillion-baht mega projects to disclose detailed information to the public. The private sector will help observe how the money is spent.
Chairman of the Committee of Anti-Corruption Organizations Pramont Sutheewong said the morality agreement was a good start as it would instill the sense of responsibility among relevant government units in keeping the public informed of the projects’ details. He added that he also wanted the government to publicize information of the 35-billion-baht water management projects.
