Projects Will Be Scrapped If Any Irregularities Found: Abhisit

[webfact]

Projects will be scrapped if any irregularities found: Abhisit

By The Nation

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has vowed to cancel spending projects approved at the final Cabinet meeting on Tuesday should irregularities be discovered at a later date.

He denied yesterday that his government had rushed to approve a spending spree worth Bt100 billion to sway votes, as claimed by critics. The actual spending will be much less than figures quoted in speculation, he said.

He went on to give a detailed explanation of how and why the government gave the green light to the spending plans, all of which were ongoing projects with funds already earmarked for the current fiscal year. He said the Cabinet did not push for any new spending.

The number of spending plans on the agenda for the final meeting seemed to have jumped because the Cabinet was obligated to earmark funds to ensure the smooth running of state affairs during the lead-up to the poll, he said, noting that the caretaker government had no mandate over budgetary allocation.

Key spending plans include Bt3.8 billion earmarked for organising the poll and allowances for medical, military and civil services. The allocation of the midyear budget was for compensation payments to farmers with damaged crops and victims of natural calamities.

All projects with tied-over funds were approved from past fiscal years and the Cabinet simply endorsed the work for the current fiscal year to allow job completion.

Military spending was attributed to the Thai-Cambodian border dispute and allowances for reconstruction in the South hit by floods. The purchase of tanks from Ukraine was part of an ongoing programme, with funds allocated from previous years.

The concessionary mortgage scheme for first-time home-owners was a commercial loan project and not government spending. It was hatched by a state-controlled bank, hence it required Cabinet approval.

The prime minister said critics should single out specific projects in which they suspected irregularities, instead of making blanket accusations against his government.

Pheu Thai MP Vicharn Minchainant said the government suspiciously rushed through 211 spending projects in 15 hours, allocating about Bt100 million per hour.

He said he did not understand why the government had allocated only Bt169 million for one price-intervention project on consumer products, despite the fast-rising cost of living.

The price intervention appeared inadequate, although subsidised goods might be destined for selected constituencies to sway votes, he said.

Vicharn said allowances for government officials should have been earmarked and disbursed months ago, but the government might have wanted to portray its approval as a favour.

-- The Nation 2011-05-06

[Estrada]

"Projects will be scrapped if any irregularities found"

Translation:

Projects will be scrapped if "Incentive payment" has not been paid to the right party.

[tragickingdom]

All politicians are the same and the so called educated elite is too dumb too understand that the poor have discovered their plot a long time ago. Lok at the army spending as an example. They bought a big balloon that insurgents see coming from 20 km distance and cost more on gas than a drone, (and it has to refill every week because it is leaking), they bought armored cars that are so hot that soldiers cannot drive them. They bought tanks serving as an artificial reef and even an aircraft carrier without the aircraft. After the coup they spend billions in bonuses amongst them and in the meantime the Democrat party was paying the courts with state money. Newin is too busy with his rice and food scams and the Banharn family is putting each and every competitor out of business because Banharn receives all the construction orders. In the meantime the people that need help and who are promised a meager 5000 baht to cover some losses from the flooding do not get their money as it goes straight into the pockets of the likes of Newin and Suthep. Speaking of Suthep who is in business with CP and is blocking the entrance to the sea for thousands of fishrman just to cut down the mangrove forest. Abhisit must be a real joker if he sincerely means what he says. Actually he must be quite idiotic to make such statements

[whybother]

All politicians are the same and the so called educated elite is too dumb too understand that the poor have discovered their plot a long time ago. Lok at the army spending as an example. They bought a big balloon that insurgents see coming from 20 km distance and cost more on gas than a drone, (and it has to refill every week because it is leaking), they bought armored cars that are so hot that soldiers cannot drive them. They bought tanks serving as an artificial reef and even an aircraft carrier without the aircraft. After the coup they spend billions in bonuses amongst them and in the meantime the Democrat party was paying the courts with state money. Newin is too busy with his rice and food scams and the Banharn family is putting each and every competitor out of business because Banharn receives all the construction orders. In the meantime the people that need help and who are promised a meager 5000 baht to cover some losses from the flooding do not get their money as it goes straight into the pockets of the likes of Newin and Suthep. Speaking of Suthep who is in business with CP and is blocking the entrance to the sea for thousands of fishrman just to cut down the mangrove forest. Abhisit must be a real joker if he sincerely means what he says. Actually he must be quite idiotic to make such statements

Wow. So many accusations. So few references (well, none, actually).

Did you just make most of this up?

[jimbeam1]

"Projects will be scrapped if any irregularities found"

Translation:

Projects will be scrapped if "Incentive payment" has not been paid to the right party.

Just a lame get out clause. A tad transparent, me thinks.

[barrybankruad]

All politicians are the same and the so called educated elite is too dumb too understand that the poor have discovered their plot a long time ago. Lok at the army spending as an example. They bought a big balloon that insurgents see coming from 20 km distance and cost more on gas than a drone, (and it has to refill every week because it is leaking), they bought armored cars that are so hot that soldiers cannot drive them. They bought tanks serving as an artificial reef and even an aircraft carrier without the aircraft. After the coup they spend billions in bonuses amongst them and in the meantime the Democrat party was paying the courts with state money. Newin is too busy with his rice and food scams and the Banharn family is putting each and every competitor out of business because Banharn receives all the construction orders. In the meantime the people that need help and who are promised a meager 5000 baht to cover some losses from the flooding do not get their money as it goes straight into the pockets of the likes of Newin and Suthep. Speaking of Suthep who is in business with CP and is blocking the entrance to the sea for thousands of fishrman just to cut down the mangrove forest. Abhisit must be a real joker if he sincerely means what he says. Actually he must be quite idiotic to make such statements

Disagree that the educated elite is too dumb that they have been rumbled. They are now sh**ting themselves, draconian laws, repression of free speech, arbitrary detentions the list goes on and on. Trouble is a man with ahoes can do nothing against a man with a tank and a gun.

[Estrada]

All politicians are the same and the so called educated elite is too dumb too understand that the poor have discovered their plot a long time ago. Lok at the army spending as an example. They bought a big balloon that insurgents see coming from 20 km distance and cost more on gas than a drone, (and it has to refill every week because it is leaking), they bought armored cars that are so hot that soldiers cannot drive them. They bought tanks serving as an artificial reef and even an aircraft carrier without the aircraft. After the coup they spend billions in bonuses amongst them and in the meantime the Democrat party was paying the courts with state money. Newin is too busy with his rice and food scams and the Banharn family is putting each and every competitor out of business because Banharn receives all the construction orders. In the meantime the people that need help and who are promised a meager 5000 baht to cover some losses from the flooding do not get their money as it goes straight into the pockets of the likes of Newin and Suthep. Speaking of Suthep who is in business with CP and is blocking the entrance to the sea for thousands of fishrman just to cut down the mangrove forest. Abhisit must be a real joker if he sincerely means what he says. Actually he must be quite idiotic to make such statements

Wow. So many accusations. So few references (well, none, actually).

Did you just make most of this up?

From personal experience it is all true. It has all been well documented in the newspapers over the years, just search the archives. I can add to the list "HopeWell", and the Fire Engine order. Then there is the BTS extension, which 4 years after completion was opened, after the politicians messed around with the signalling contract resulting in the whole BTS shutting down for 2 hours due to a software fault.

[Estrada]

All politicians are the same and the so called educated elite is too dumb too understand that the poor have discovered their plot a long time ago. Lok at the army spending as an example. They bought a big balloon that insurgents see coming from 20 km distance and cost more on gas than a drone, (and it has to refill every week because it is leaking), they bought armored cars that are so hot that soldiers cannot drive them. They bought tanks serving as an artificial reef and even an aircraft carrier without the aircraft. After the coup they spend billions in bonuses amongst them and in the meantime the Democrat party was paying the courts with state money. Newin is too busy with his rice and food scams and the Banharn family is putting each and every competitor out of business because Banharn receives all the construction orders. In the meantime the people that need help and who are promised a meager 5000 baht to cover some losses from the flooding do not get their money as it goes straight into the pockets of the likes of Newin and Suthep. Speaking of Suthep who is in business with CP and is blocking the entrance to the sea for thousands of fishrman just to cut down the mangrove forest. Abhisit must be a real joker if he sincerely means what he says. Actually he must be quite idiotic to make such statements

Wow. So many accusations. So few references (well, none, actually).

Did you just make most of this up?

From personal experience it is all true. It has all been well documented in the newspapers over the years, just search the archives. I can add to the list "HopeWell", and the Fire Engine order. Then there is the BTS extension, which 4 years after completion was opened, after the politicians messed around with the signalling contract resulting in the whole BTS shutting down for 2 hours due to a software fault.

[whybother]

From personal experience it is all true. It has all been well documented in the newspapers over the years, just search the archives. I can add to the list "HopeWell", and the Fire Engine order. Then there is the BTS extension, which 4 years after completion was opened, after the politicians messed around with the signalling contract resulting in the whole BTS shutting down for 2 hours due to a software fault.

Yes, there's been lots of incompetence (and corruption) in various Thai government projects, but TragicKingdon was making vague accusations against specific people. It would have been nice to see some reference as to what he was referring to.