Dems blast ministry's van purchase

Dems blast ministry's van purchase

The Democrat Party yesterday kept up its attack on the 2014 Budget Bill, shifting its focus to the Education Ministry's controversial van purchase scheme.

Democrat list-MP Jurit Laksanavisit said the budget of 2.343 billion baht sought to buy 1,000 12-seat vans was too high and raised the possibility that the specifications had been fixed.

Based on the amount, each van would cost 2.3 million baht, which was higher than the Budget Bureau's estimate of 1.2 million baht.

He also questioned the Budget Bureau's estimate, saying the market price of a 12-seat van was 956,000 baht. The bureau's estimated price of 1.2 million baht was enough to buy a 16-seat van.

Deputy Education Minister Sermsak Pongpanit defended the scheme, saying Mr Jurit's budgetary documents contained a typographical error.

He said the ministry was seeking an allocation of 1.232 billion baht for the van procurement scheme.

"Education Ministry officials are considered as role models. We don't do things that aren't right," he said.

Mr Jurit asked the House to suspend the debate until the mistake was fixed, otherwise it would be in violation of the constitution. Deputy House speaker Wisut Chai-narun, who was presiding over the meeting, ordered a 10-minute break.

PM's Office Minister Varathep Rattanakorn told the House the figure in the bill was verified and correct. The typo was in a supplementary document.

Mr Varathep, who oversees the Budget Bureau, said he would ensure mistakes were corrected.

Parliamentary staff were asked to distribute the corrected version to MPs.

"It is not corruption," he insisted.

He noted the amount of 2.343 billion baht had been sought for 2,000 vans. The number of vans was revised to 1,000.

He said typos were normal and would be fixed when the bill was vetted.

The van purchase scheme has arisen from the ministry's policy to merge small schools. The vans are needed to take students to larger schools which are further away from their homes.

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