One joint venture group withdrew from contention when the bidding opened on Friday for the government's controversial 350-billion-baht water management megaprojects.
Employees of a firm bidding for water management project contracts move boxes of tender documents from a pickup truck into Government House on Friday. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)
Team Thailand Joint Venture submitted a letter to the Office of the National Water and Flood Management Policy announcing it was withdrawing from the bidding process.
The joint venture said in the letter that it could not do the work as set down in the terms of reference and was pulling out of the bidding.
The office on Friday formally called for tenders outlining technical proposals and prices for each module of the sustainable water management and flood control projects planned by the government.
The remaining four groups of companies contending for the contracts are Korea Water Resources Corp (K Water), ITD Power China, Summit SUT Joint Venture, and Loxley Joint Venture.
K Water managing director Monthon Panupokin said his company had submitted a tender in line with the terms of reference. The decision now rests with the selection committee, he said.
He admitted it would be very difficult for K Water to win the contracts for all the modules.
Mr Monthon said the water projects would benefit the country and the opposition by the civil sector possibly derived from the lack of information on the projects available to the general public.
If people had a clear understanding of of the planned projects, there would be no opposition, he said.
He insisted that the floodway construction project proposed by K Water would have no negative impact on the environment and people’s lives and that the floodway would not cut through any community.
Sumate Surabotsophon, executive vice chairman of ITD, said if the government wants the water management projects to go smoothly, without any failures, it must seriously enforce the law relating to land expropriation and settle the problems with people who disagree with the projects.
He felt that if the environmental impact and health impact assessments were carried out as planned, these projects would be completed on time.
A representative of Summit SUT was confident of winning contracts, saying his firm had years of experience in water management.
He admitted he was concerned about the set costs of these projects. If the bidding prices acceptable to the government were too low, Summit SUT would not sign any contracts.
Apichart Anukulampai, a member of the Water and Flood Management Commission, said in order to select only one company for each module, two panels had been set up.
The first committee is responsible for considering the technical proposals of all contenders, and the second will look at the companies’ price proposals, he said.
Mr Apichart said the companies with the highest grades on their technical proposals would be invited to discussions to negotiate on suitable prices.
All these procedures would be completed by the end of this month. The conclusions would be forwarded to the cabinet for consideration early next month.