Govt Scales Megaprojects Way Back

[george]

Govt scales megaprojects way back

BANGKOK: -- The Thai government plans to initally inject a budget of at least 40-to-50 billion baht to support the implementation of megaprojects this year, which will help stimulate the country's economic activities and growth, Deputy Finance Minister Varathep Ratanakorn said. That is a far cry from the original plan to spend 1.7 trillion baht, beginning this year.

The issue, to be jointly proposed by the Ministry of Finance, the Bureau of the Budget and the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), is expected to be approved by the cabinet at its weekly meeting here on Tuesday, according to Mr Varathep.

"Once the cabinet approves the proposal, agencies concerning the mega projects will be urged to seek disbursement of the fund from the Bureau of the Budget to quickly implement the projects," he told journalists.

Mr Varathep said, however, that the mega projects mentioned were separated from those under the government's modernization programme which need to be approved by the new government.

The deputy finance minister conceded that a delay in forming the new government until the first quarter of next year could affect the planned budget for the 2007 fiscal year.

He noted that only planned state investment projects would be affected, while fixed expenditures, like government officials' salaries could be disbursed normally.

Assigned by Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya would call a meeting of agencies concerned here on May 23 to discuss budget-related problems and solutions, said Mr Varathep.

--TNA 2006-05-22

[cclub75]

BANGKOK: -- The Thai government plans to initally inject a budget of at least 40-to-50 billion baht to support the implementation of megaprojects this year, which will help stimulate the country's economic activities and growth, Deputy Finance Minister Varathep Ratanakorn said. That is a far cry from the original plan to spend 1.7 trillion baht, beginning this year.

Indeed, from 1700 to 50 billions... it shows 2 things :

-how broke is the gvt

-how ridiculous were all the previous "calculations" and grandioses estimations

Megaprojects are a pure "vaporware".

[PeaceBlondie]

What government? This country has caretakers like your tiny garden has a gardener.

What mega-projects? They were nothing but figments of Thaksin's imagination, or fantasies of his figleaf, which fell off.

What budget? How can you have a budget without a parliament? What acting caretaker deputy assistant pretending minister of finance even thinks he has enough authority to pass a budget or spend a satang without legislation that extends into the coming fiscal year?

Oh, wait, this is LOSM, land of smoke and mirrors. Surely, they can do nothing and call it everything.

Darn, ThaiVisa has no smiling emoticon of a clown. Where's a court jester when you need one? Oh, he just returned to duty. Howdy, Tex-sin Sin-a-Lotta.

[ovenman]

Indeed, from 1700 to 50 billions... it shows 2 things :

-how broke is the gvt

-how ridiculous were all the previous "calculations" and grandioses estimations

Megaprojects are a pure "vaporware".

Not to worry, I'm sure that this will all get spun by the (former) powers-that-be as being the fault of those pesky protesters.

[Jai Dee]

Mr. Pongsak will raise the constructing 3 BTS routes in the cabinet meeting tomorrow

Transport Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal (พงษ์ศักดิ์ รักตพงศ์ไพศาล) will ask for an approval from the Cabinet on the government's mega-project of constructing the three BTS routes tomorrow.

Mr. Pongsak said that if the cabinet approves the construction plan, he will then call a meeting with relevant units to set the details of implementation. He expected that interested investors can inform their intention to invest in the project in the end of June or in the middle of July this year.

Besides, he will propose the Cabinet to allow 2,000 BMTA buses to change to use NGV gas.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 22 May 2006

[stumonster]

He expected that interested investors can inform their intention to invest in the project in the end of June or in the middle of July this year.

Investors ... .. call me confused , or is the government only partially funding this , and relying on outside investors to take up the slack with the idea of a return via the fares when it is running ? long wait if it goes the same as the other infrastructure. So I take it the engineering/costing and the quotes are in then ?

[penzman]

The last attempt at drawing investors into these projects turned out , well, you know... There was the april 28th deadline for subsmissions. What happend with that? Was it all scrapped? I remember the comments after the totally unprofessional (true, I watched it live) official presentation to those foreign companies that were interested, quite a few said it was laughable. They were all given a brochure with the megaproject's website address but were told that the site had not yet been translated to english . Kids playing with a wallet full of money (not so full anynmore).

[Chang_paarp]

Those pesky investors want to see some sort of return on their investment.

Why don't they take the word of the government they will get their money back. It works for the sick buffalos in Issan.

May be if they put the workers at Nanna on a commision they would have better success.

Edited May 23, 2006 by Chang_paarp

[Scott]

When you scale back a megaproject does it become a miniproject?

I sure hope they put some more dirt on Susksawat road before it all ends.

[Jai Dee]

The Cabinet meeting today will consider the budget approval for mega-projects

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra disclosed that the Cabinet meeting today will discuss the budget for the government's mega-projects.

Dr. Thaksin stated that considerations will be made on necessary projects only. He chaired the meeting for the first time after he had refrained from politics since April.

He revealed prior to the meeting that he would be chairing the meeting every time from now onwards. He added that the budget for mega-projects will be approved for necessary projects only.

In the meanwhile, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Interior Sucharit Patchimnun (สุจริต ปัจฉิมนันท์) admitted that he would propose the transfer lists of the high-ranking officials to the meeting as well.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 23 May 2006

[andyfletch]

Hmmm..........so who is right..........this looks like an immediate about turn..........then again, we've heard it all before............believe it when it happens, and of course it is our old friend Khun Pongsak, who mouth seems to be always capable of containing both his feet and anybody else's who happen to be nearby : from todays Nation

MASS-TRANSIT SYSTEM

Govt dusts off mega-projects

Transport Ministry says rail investment can be used to inject new life into economy

The Transport Ministry will today seek Cabinet approval to call for bidding for three mass-transit lines next month, in order to inject some much-needed cash into the decelerating economy, according to ministers.

The government's decision to take the dust-covers off the mega-projects has come amid anticipation of a fresh general election later this year.

The Thai Rak Thai Party's popularity among Bangkok voters has been declining, because of its failure to implement any of the mass-transit lines it had earlier promised.

Thai Rak Thai has also lost points among voters who believe the government's recent attempt to block the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's plan to extend the BTS Skytrain lines was politically motivated.

Caretaker Transport Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal said yesterday the proposal to call for bidding emerged from a joint meeting last week of the Finance Ministry, the Budget Bureau Office, the National Economic and Social Development Board and his ministry.

The agencies agreed the government needed to inject money into the economy and should therefore speed up construction of one or two mass-transit lines this year.

"We need to inject money into the system, not cut off the flow of money," said Pongsak.

"The Transport Ministry has a clear objective of starting with one or two or three lines first, because it's impossible to do all of them at once," he said. The Cabinet is scheduled to decide at today's meeting on which lines it will start calling for bids. It hopes to call for bidding next month, or by mid-July at the latest.

Pongsak said the probable first three lines were the Red Line, connecting Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports to Chiang Rak; the Blue Line, which is an outer ring road to Bang Khae; and the Purple Line, which will connect Bang Sue to Bang Yai.

"These three lines are ready for implementation," he said.

Pongsak said that apart from the three mass-transit lines, the Cabinet would also be asked to approve the purchase of 2,000 natural-gas buses for the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, in order to save on fuel imports.

Caretaker Deputy Finance Minister Varathep Ratanakorn said the government planned to inject an initial budget of Bt40 billion to Bt50 billion to support the implementation of mega-projects this year, in a bid to stimulate economic activity and growth.

"Once the Cabinet approves the proposal, agencies involved in the mega-projects will be urged to seek disbursement of funds from the Budget Bureau, in order to implement them quickly," he told reporters.

Asked if the caretaker government had the power to approve the mega-projects, Varathep said the projects in question were different from those under the government's modernisation programme, which would need to be approved by the new administration.

He conceded that a delay in forming the new government until next year's first quarter could affect the planned budget for fiscal 2007, which begins in October. However, he said only planned state investment projects would be affected by such a delay, while fixed expenditures - such as government officials' salaries - could be disbursed normally.

Assigned to do so by caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, caretaker Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya had called a special meeting of agencies for today to discuss budget-related problems and solutions, said Varathep.

Meanwhile, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday returned to work after his month-long break from politics that was meant to ease political tensions.

"But now the social, economic and political problems have severely affected people to the point where Thaksin can't leave it to caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya to make decisions on his behalf," said Government Spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee.