Rail body seeks cut in B37bn payout bill
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will pay the entire 11.88 billion baht in compensation to Hopewell Holdings, as ordered by the Supreme Administrative Court, but will negotiate for a reduction in the interest payment, Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said yesterday.
After failing in its bid for a retrial, the SRT will seek a loan to compensate the contractor over the failed rail project, Mr Saksayam said. The loan request will be sent to the cabinet next Tuesday.
However, the agency will negotiate for a reduction in the interest on the payment, which will be made in installments.
On April 22 this year, the court ordered the ministry and the SRT to compensate the firm within 180 days for losses incurred after authorities terminated the contract for the Hopewell elevated highway and railway line two decades ago.
The compensation set at 11.88 billion baht is subject to annual interest of 7.5%, adding up to 37 billion baht in total.
Mr Saksayam said the ministry will launch lawsuits against former staff and executives involved in the Hopewell saga’s decision-making process. The SRT will ask the Department of Special Investigation to handle the probe.
Former SRT governor Prapat Chongsanguan said that the decision to make the SRT solely responsible for paying the compensation amount was unfair, as there were several other parties involved in both approving and then cancelling the scheme, including previous cabinets.
“The project was initiated by one government and later cancelled by another, while the SRT governor and other executives had to follow the politicians’ orders because they didn’t want to lose their jobs,” said Mr Prapat.