Superboard panel probes NBTC's KMITL contracts

[webfact]

NBTC
Superboard panel probes NBTC's KMITL contracts
Usanee Mongkolporn
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The committee tasked with evaluating the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has asked the watchdog to clarify within seven days the alleged irregularities regarding its granting of almost two dozen contracts to King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang over three years.

Prasert Apipunya, a member of the panel inspecting the NBTC's performance, said yesterday that if the regulator failed to give a satisfactory answer, the junta-appointed committee monitoring and inspecting state spending would be asked to look into this case.

Prasert said his committee, known as the "superboard", wanted to know why the NBTC awarded contracts to the institute frequently during a certain short period of time and whether it deliberately split projects into many small contracts.

The NBTC chairman can approve a project worth up to Bt50 million, while the NBTC secretary-general can approve one of up to Bt20 million. A project worth more than Bt50 million requires the NBTC's approval.

According to the committee, the NBTC awarded 22 contracts to KMITL worth Bt275 million over three years, of which 11 contracts for Bt80 million were granted last year.

Last year alone the licensing body awarded 35 contracts for Bt104 million to five universities, of which eight contracts for Bt20 million went to Chulalongkorn, 13 for Bt53 million to Thammasat, two for Bt8 million to Burapha and one for Bt3 million to the National Institute of Development Administration.

On December 26, 2013, the NBTC gave a Bt49.9-million contract to KMITL to develop management systems for finances and accounting, revenue, and assets and procurement. And just one day later, it awarded a Bt49.91-million contract to the institute to develop a human-resources management system.

One month later, the NBTC commissioned KMITL for Bt19.97 million to act as the consultant for a study of a project to treat electronic and telecom product waste.

In March of last year, the NBTC engaged the institute for Bt14.97 million to be its consultant in studying how to adopt the Internet Protocol version 6 system for its office.

The committee also questioned whether it was the NBTC's mission to study some projects. For example, the NBTC hired KMITL for Bt7.95 million in September 2013 to be the consultant on its study of certain encryption methods for the second-generation cellular system, even though the country was poised to auction 3G licences the following month.

The Prasert committee was initiated under the Frequency Allocation Act to appraise the NBTC's performance.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Superboard-panel-probes-NBTCs-KMITL-contracts-30255312.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-05

[zaphod reborn]

Obviously KMITL was a model for financial management and fraud control. Why shouldn't they have been awarded the contracts?

[Lupatria]

The name "Swampy" should not be restricted only to the airport anymore and don't accept the phrase- the sky is the limit.

[smutcakes]

Disregarding whether there was inappropriate goings on, 275 million baht of projects over a 3 year period is a huge amount of money to be paid for what appears to be consultancy work.

I would like to ask whether these works were put up for tender? I would of thought that there are many professional private companies who would be as qualified or more so than universities.