9 December 2003
Bangkok Post, 20 June 2003
KLONG DAN WASTEWATER PLANT
Cabinet ignored, blueprint changed
Anchalee Kongrut and Manop Thip-osod
A police inquiry into corruption in the Klong Dan wastewater treatment project says the Pollution Control Department violated a cabinet resolution requiring the plant be built on two sides of the Chao Phraya river.
The inquiry panel will name the state officials responsible for changing the blueprint, which inflated the cost by nine billion baht, police sources said.
Earlier yesterday, the project contractor said the PCD was responsible for the illegal acquisition of land for the project in Samut Prakan.
Sources said the project was bound by a cabinet resolution that it be built in Phra Pradaeng and Bang Phli districts, on each side of the river.
However, the PCD had managed to merge to two plants into one in 1996 and relocated the plant to a 1,900-rai block of land, half of which was found later to be public property.
The merger of the two plants into one, which was eventually built at Bang Bor district, was done without cabinet approval, the sources said.
NVPSKG Joint Venture, the contractor for the 23-billion-baht plant, said the PCD _ the state agency supervising the project _ was solely responsible for screening of the land.
Although the facility was built under a turnkey agreement which normally required the contractor to acquire the land, design, build and run the system, the PCD in this case was involved in screening locations and guiding contractors in choosing the site.
"That narrowed the joint venture's responsibility to surveying, designing and building the project," said Sukree Dheeragool, the project's manager.
NVPSKG Joint Venture said the PCD was involved in screening land plots from Feb 6, 1996 _ six months before the bidding process started.
Bidders were told on Aug 16 the same year that two suitable sites, one in tambon Klong Dan and the other in tambon Bang Prieng in Bang Bor district, had passed PCD's initial screening test.
The PCD was obliged by a loan contract with Asian Development Bank, the major creditor, to make the bidding internationally competitive'' by screening the land picked for the project beforehand to ensure a fair contest for foreign bidders.
After being told about the likely plots, NVPSKG Joint Venture designed one plant for the Bang Bor site.
Mr Sukree said tambon Klong Dan was chosen because of its proximity to the sea. The land was also cheaper.
"We had no idea the land title deeds were issued illegally. You'll have to ask state officials about that."
The Special Investigation Division and police said this month they were planning to issue arrest warrants for a group of state officials, owners of real estate companies and NVPSKG Joint Venture.