Amlo halts Klong Dan payment

B6bn on hold over further graft claims

The Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) has decided to hold back compensation payments of almost six billion baht to the NVPSKG consortium over the graft-plagued Klong Dan wastewater treatment facility project in Samut Prakan as the consortium is now alleged to be involved in corruption.

The Supreme Administrative Court ruled in 2014 that the Pollution Control Department (PCD) must pay 9.8 billion baht in compensation to the NVPSKG consortium for the unlawful termination of its contract when the project was 90% complete.

The cabinet last year approved the payment in three instalments.

The first lot of 3.2 billion baht and US$21.7 million (765.31 million baht) was paid in November last year.

The second tranche of 2.38 billion baht and $16.28 million is due to be paid on May 21 and the final tranche of 2.38 billion baht and $16.28 million on Nov 21.

Payments are made according to different contracts signed in both Thai baht and US dollars, the latter usually for imported equipment.

Acting Amlo secretary-general Pol Col Seehanat Prayoonrat said yesterday his agency decided to freeze payment of the second and third tranches.

The NVPSKG consortium must explain and show evidence as to how it became the project’s contractor within 30 days, Pol Col Seehanat said.

If the consortium can provide a sound explanation, the compensation payments will be allowed to proceed, he said.

Amlo will write to the PCD to suspend the second and third payments, he noted.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders in 2008 sentenced former interior minister Vatana Asavahame to 10 years in jail for malfeasance and corruption concerning land purchases for the project.

The Criminal Court in December last year sentenced three senior PCD officers to 20 years in prison for malfeasance and dereliction of duty in the case. They are Pakit Kiravanich, the former director-general of the department, his deputy Sirithan PairojBoriboon, and Yuwaree Inna, an official in charge of the project.

Pol Col Seehanat said the court ruled the trio were linked to the consortium, adding they planned and helped the consortium become a PCD contractor to build the 23.7-billion-baht facility in Klong Dan.

Irregularities were found in the bidding process for the project, he said.

“This shows the contract for the Klong Dan project involved malfeasance by state officials and the consortium,” Pol Col Seehanat said yesterday at a press conference. “The contract must be nullified based on Section 150 of the Civil and Commercial Code.”

This means the contract would be retroactively non-existent from the beginning.

Based on the case, the National AntiCorruption Commission and the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) both wrote to Amlo on April 27, asking the agency to freeze assets belonging to those connected to the project’s irregularities, Pol Col Seehanat said.

Amlo investigations uncovered more evidence leading the agency to believe that the consortium occupied and utilised the public land involved in the project, where land title deeds were unlawfully issued, he noted.

The consortium also gained benefits from malfeasance committed by Vatana and former PCD officials, he added.

Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya said the government made the first payment in line with the Supreme Administrative Court’s 2014 ruling, but the Criminal Court’s December ruling made the authorities review the decision to pay.

Auditor-General Pisit Leelavachiropas said that the OAG did not believe the government should make further payments.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Kreangam said the cabinet discussed the compensation payments on Tuesday.

Several issues remain unclear and some key documents are yet to be seen by the cabinet and, as such, further discussion is needed, he said, refusing to discuss details.

Kasemsun Chinavaso, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s permanent secretary, said the ministry will stop paying the consortium when the cabinet agrees with Amlo’s proposal.

“We’ll stop paying money only when the cabinet issues an order to do so. We have no power to delay the payment as it is the court’s ruling,” he said.

He insisted that the ministry made the first payment in line with court rulings.

The cabinet has enough time to consider the second payment as it is due on May 21, he said.

Meanwhile, Dawan Chantarahassadi, the leader of the We Love Klong Dan group, said that she was not sure whether the freezing of compensation payments to the consortium would be implemented as Amlo stated clearly that it will pay the consortium if it proves it has a legal right to obtain the money.

She suggested the state-owned agencies make a clear statement that the government will not pay any money until there is a final ruling from the Supreme Court, which is expected this year.