BMA to study loan proposal

The Bangkok Metropolitan Council has set up a special committee to study details of City Hall’s proposal seeking to obtain loans to pay debts incurred from taking over the Green Line’s northern and southern extensions from the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA).

The panel has 30 days to examine the details before it considers a proposal submitted to the council by Bangkok governor Pol Gen Aswin Kwanmuang.

Kriangsak Lohachala, the council chairman, said the transfer of ownership of the Green Line’s northern extensions from Mo Chit-Saphan Mai-Khu Khot and its southern extensions from Bearing-Samut Prakan contains a lot of details which the councillors must study carefully.

Pol Gen Aswin said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is seeking a loan to pay for the construction cost of the extensions while the system operator will be required to pay for the signalling system.

He said the Green Line’s extensions will be implemented under the joint public and private partnership law and require approval from the Interior Ministry and the cabinet.

The BMA’s plan to obtain loans to pay for the northern Mo Chit-Saphan Mai-Khu Khot and southern Bearing-Samut Prakan extensions follows the government’s decision to transfer ownership of these extensions from the MRTA to the BMA. But construction work has already been carried out by the MRTA.

The MRTA concluded that City Hall must pay 78 billion baht in total. This comprises 58 billion baht for construction costs and 20 billion baht for system installation.

Thanuchai Hoonniwat, director of the BMA’s Traffic and Transport Office, said the BMA is required to start paying debts to complete the transfer deal with the MRTA.

He said the BMA needs the council’s approval for the loan plan because the Bearing-Samut Prakan extension is scheduled to be operational by December of this year.

He said the PPP model for extensions has been proposed so the BMA will use its share of revenue to pay for loan interest which is estimated at 2 billion baht in the first 10 years.