Opposition Demands Details Of Spending: Budget Debate

[webfact]

BUDGET DEBATE

Opposition demands details of spending

Kornchanok Raksaseri

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Opposition yesterday repeatedly asked for reports detailing the government's spending of Bt110 billion from a flood-rehabilitation fund and Bt30 billion from the central budget set aside for emergencies.

Meanwhile, speakers stressed that many project proposals of the agencies under the PM's Office were submitted in the budget for 2013 without details.

The Democrats said knowing how the PM's Office had spent the money in the past year was an important factor in considering next year's budget. At 5pm, Opposition chief whip Jurin Laksanawisit gave the government an ultimatum: hand over the documents by 7pm or the meeting must take a break.

"You said 113 projects required an amount of Bt118 billion to be withdrawn. But can you show us where the projects, worth about Bt1 billion each, took place? Were they canal or swamp dredging? Were they dug deep enough? Were [the projects] concentrated in the same areas? We and the people don't have any way of knowing," MP Chuti Krairiksh said while complaining that he had not received the documents he had requested on Wednesday night.

Chuti said it was sheer luck that the committee scrutinising the budget bill had discovered duplicated construction-project proposals from the Transport Ministry on 80 routes. The committee notified the Budget Bureau, under the PM's Office, which cut Bt5 billion from the budget for the duplicated routes.

The MPs also attacked Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong, the chairman of the ad hoc committee considering the 2013 budget, for his absence from the chamber at the time of the debate.

At 4pm, Kittiratt clarified to the meeting that he had closely followed the debate, although he had work to do elsewhere. The Opposition could ask other committee members if they had any queries, he said.

Kittiratt told the Opposition not to worry about the reports on the spending of the 2012 budget, as the ministers would provide them later. Rather, they should focus on the 2013 budget for now and use the information on the 2012 budget in the censure debate, if that is what they want.

Yesterday was the second day of the second reading of the 2013 Budget Bill. The MPs considered the budget for the PM's Office set at Bt25 billion.

MP Boonyod Sooktinthai proposed that the PM's Office budget be cut, saying the spending was ineffective.

Boonyod compared the travel costs racked up by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra when attending World Economic Forum in Davos to her predecessor Abhisit Vejjajiva. Yingluck spent Bt13 million on chartered flights while travelling to Switzerland and then to New Delhi in January. Meanwhile, Abhisit spent Bt4 million travelling on commercial flights to Switzerland, and it would have cost only about Bt5 million if his group had continued to India, the MP said.

Reacting to the criticism of Yingluck by the Democrats, Kittiratt said Yingluck was doing a good job in promoting the country, including when she shopped during trips abroad as it created a good impression on foreigners. MP Pichet Panvichartkul at first refused to start debating yesterday morning unless he received the requested spending report. He attacked the credibility of PM's Office Minister Woravat Auapinyakul, saying Bt1.3 billion out of the Central Budget was allocated to Phrae, Woravat's home province, alone.

Woravat said his province is located on the upstream section of the Yom River. Therefore, to properly deal with and prevent flood problems, his province needed such a budget. He said other flood-affected provinces including Lop Buri had also received billions of baht for the same cause.

While Pichet said Phrae received Bt1.3 billion for flood-related projects, Worawat said Lop Buri received over Bt3 billion.

On Wednesday, the House passed only the overall amount of next year's budget of Bt2.4 trillion, and the Bt318 billion amount for the Central Budget. The funds were not allocated to specific agencies.

A committee member from the Democrat Party, Pongsri Tarapoom, yesterday said there were many proposed projects that were expensive but lacked details. She called them "one-line projects".

"The Bt500-million budget for promotion of Thailand's image was first proposed without any details. The committee [on budget consideration] then suspended the approval asking the agency [the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the PM's Office] to supply details. They came back with two pages of documents and some supporting documents that gave little detail," she said by way of an example. "

-- The Nation 2012-08-17

[waza]

The PTP are so arrogant they believe they can corrupt the entire Thai treasury without even token paperwork, reminds me of their convicted criminal boss. Hopefully they had enough HDD space to keep 2012 budget expenditures

Edited August 17, 2012 by waza

[Moruya]

What a joke.

Transparency? They can't even account for the hundreds of billions spent this year and want massive amounts more for next.

One line items for projects costing billions would not be acceptable in any country or for any business.

Yingluck flees again, Kittirat doesn't bother to show any respect. Is this governance or has the mafia taken over?

[slapout]

Well when you double up on requests and allotment of monies for single projects and it takes a third party to point it out, I shudder to think of what they are doing to hide the big items of spending/corruption.

The recent estimate that 50 percent of the monies are being lost due to corruption may be grossley underestimated.

[RogueExpat]

The recent estimate that 50 percent of the monies are being lost due to corruption may be grossley underestimated.

It would appear that you may be quite correct.

A local budget was set at around 10 million Baht to clean up, and build small, but completely useless retaining walls around a man made lake in the area where I live.

They had four backhoes working for a month to complete this work. A backhoe hires out at 15,000 B per day all inc., even profit for the owner/operator.

On that calculation, the contractor would have received just under 2 million, leaving another 8 million Baht floating to be divided up between the Revenue department (they get 7% off the top - all government spending is subject to VAT tax)), the government engineers (they usually get between 1.5% and 5% depending on how dodgy the work is they have been instructed to sign off on), the department who was managing the budget (usually between 5 - 10% of contract value, however in this case I think it may have been closer to 15%), accounts department usually gets 1% for expediting the paperwork and approval of monies to be paid, and the rest will most likely be divided between the ministry at national level who let the project, the Jungwat Jao Por, and the member of parliament whose constituency the project is located in.

The figures on the last breakup are usually agreed to on a gentleman's handshake because none of the three can operate efficiently without the co-operation of the others, unless this is a request, or an order from someone like the man in exile.

[fareastguy]

What a joke.

Transparency? They can't even account for the hundreds of billions spent this year and want massive amounts more for next.

One line items for projects costing billions would not be acceptable in any country or for any business.

Yingluck flees again, Kittirat doesn't bother to show any respect. Is this governance or has the mafia taken over?

What a joke.

Transparency? They can't even account for the hundreds of billions spent this year and want massive amounts more for next.

One line items for projects costing billions would not be acceptable in any country or for any business.

Yingluck flees again, Kittirat doesn't bother to show any respect. Is this governance or has the mafia taken over?

The "Mafia" was alway's in control & still is !!

[SICHONSTEVE]

The PTP are so arrogant they believe they can corrupt the entire Thai treasury without even token paperwork, reminds me of their convicted criminal boss. Hopefully they had enough HDD space to keep 2012 budget expenditures

What a shambles!!!!

[chainarong]

Democracy at work I see, well done.

[Noistar]

Democracy at work I see, well done.

I'm sure we'll be reminded that they were elected with a significant majority to do everything in their manifesto.

IMHO, There doesnt seem to be much interest in following the democratic process to achieve this.

With the ruling party's majority, isn't the Opposition being naughty to even question them? Paperwork? You won't catch us on that one!!