BMTA scraps Bestlin bus contract

BMTA scraps Bestlin bus contract

Forget about riding these 489 gas-powered buses, because the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority is cancelling the contract to buy them. (Bangkok Post photo)
Forget about riding these 489 gas-powered buses, because the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority is cancelling the contract to buy them. (Bangkok Post photo)

The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) has decided to scrap the contract for the procurement of 489 natural gas for vehicle (NGV) buses awarded to the Bestlin Group following the delayed delivery in connection with the firm's tax avoidance scandal.

BMTA director Surachai Eamvachirasakul said his agency will inform Bestlin about the decision on Thursday. The BMTA will expedite efforts to call another bidding for 489 NGV buses.

Terms of reference for the bid could be drafted by next month and the bidding could be carried out as early as late in next May, he said.

So far 99 buses remain impounded at Laem Chabang pier following the tax scandal. Another 390 buses have been delivered to the BMTA for the installation of GPS units.

Mr Surachai said the GPS units will be removed from the buses, which will be returned to Bestlin.

He said whether Bestlin would sue the BMTA for terminating the contract remains to be seen, but the agency's legal team has prepared itself for that risk.

Bestlin came under fire after its affiliate, Super Zara Co, which was handling the imports for Bestlin, was accused of making the buses appear as though they were manufactured in and imported from Malaysia, to reap a tax-exemption benefit based on an Asean free-trade agreement.

The Customs Department suspects the vehicles were actually produced and assembled in China. In a press briefing on Tuesday, department spokesman Chaiyut Kumkun revealed a photo of NGV buses which he claimed were delivered to a port in Malaysia and were shipped to Thailand.

Bestlin Group chairman Kanis Srivachiraprapha turned up Wednesday at the Office of the Ombudsman to seek justice over the case.

He said the Customs Department had failed to show documents which can determine the buses were manufactured in China, and the allegation has caused the delayed delivery of the vehicles.

The BMTA panel responsible for examining and receiving the buses held a meeting with Bestlin on Jan 27 to discuss a plan for delivery, but four days later it informed the company the delivery should be halted, Mr Kanis said. He said no reasons have been given as to why the contract has to be terminated.

Mr Kanis said Bestlin delivered 390 buses to the BMTA earlier this month, and the BMTA had examined and proceeded with the registration of 274 buses.

"As the BMTA is preparing a notification letter to cancel the contract, I will like to see what reasons they give," Mr Kanis said.

He said the Customs Department wrote to the BMTA saying the department is in the process of checking the origin of the buses with Malaysian customs officials.

However, it later claimed the buses were produced in China without evidence. The conduct is unfair to Bestlin, he said.

"If the BMTA cancels the contract despite Bestlin having done nothing wrong, a lawsuit may be necessary," Mr Kanis said.

Deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Ombudsman Thawin Inthachamnong said his agency will deliberate the case within 15 days and then call a meeting with various parties to find a solution.

Meanwhile, the Transport Ministry is reconsidering the procurement of 200 electric buses.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (24)