Virtue pledge aims to end project graft

The government will ask state officials and private operators to sign a “virtue agreement” promising they will carry out multibillion-baht projects transparently in its latest effort to stamp out corruption.

The agreement, put together by the recently-created anti-corruption commission headed by Gen Prayut, will be piloted in two projects, Deputy Prime Minister and commission member Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday.

These are the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority’s (BMTA) plan to buy a fleet of new city buses and the Mass Rapid Transit Authority’s (MRTA) Blue Line electric rail project in the capital.

Under the projects, the BMTA will spend 13 billion baht to procure 3,138 NGV-fuelled buses, while the MRTA has to oversee the 82-billion-baht construction of the 14km line connecting Hua Lamphong with Bang Khae.

The agreement will have to be signed by authorities and company representatives along with the contracts on construction and procurement.

It will serve as a guarantee that projects will be free from corruption, Mr Wissanu explained.

Public representatives will be authorised to monitor the projects and can ask state officials to unveil details of projects if they have any queries.

Making the details of projects available to the public should eliminate the possibility for scams, Mr Wissanu said.

Authorities who fail to provide information to public representatives will face disciplinary action and could be held back from promotion, according to the agreement.

The commission yesterday also assigned the Comptroller-General’s Department to help draft a bill on state procurement by developing the prime minister’s office regulations.

Mr Wissanu said weak points of the current regulations are their lack of legal status and exclusion of state enterprises and local administrative bodies.

Comptroller-General’s Department Chief Manat Chaemweha said the virtue agreement will be part of the new bill related to procurement.

Procurement has been exploited as a channel for corruption by authorities and the private sector, Mr Manat said.

The commission will forward yesterday’s resolution to the cabinet for consideration.

Pramon Sutivong, chairman of the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand, applauded the commission’s move to involve the public in the fight against graft.