Parliament has almost tripled the budget request for its relocation project to 8.6 billion baht from 3 billion baht previously, citing IT and utility costs.
Parliament is to be relocated to a new site in the Kiakkai area in Bangkok by Dec 31 this year.
Sorasak Pianvej, secretary-general of the House of Representatives, said on Monday the previous budget request did not include the costs of IT and decorations.
“We already consulted the Comptroller General Office and the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, which is in charge of construction in the public sector. We also told the prime minister about the reasons for the increase,” he said.
He did not know when the request would be tabled for cabinet consideration but said if the approval is delayed, the relocation plan would be affected.
“If we can’t relocate it by the year-end deadline, a place will be rented and more budget will be needed, he explained.
Chotejutha Artsorn, executive director of the project’s consultant, said the ICT system proposed in the previous budget request was based on a 2010 study and was no longer up-to-date.
“Merlins Solutions International Co Ltd was therefore hired to redesign it based on the suggestions of House panels and academics from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,” he said.
The additional budget covers the security system (586 million baht), ICT system (2.8 billion baht), intranet and communication systems (815 million baht), servers and software (1.4 billion baht), node computers, peripheral equipment and televisions (324 million) and IT system (170 million baht).
The non-IT part comprises the electrical system (276 million baht), security (178 million), building services (594 million baht) and data centre/backup centre (895 million baht) and audiovisual systems (2.2 billion baht).
The additional 8.6 billion baht budget will be approved in three batches. Once the cabinet gives nod, bids will be called in April, financed by the contingency budget. The remaining two batches will come from the normal fiscal 2019 and 2010 budgets so the entire project is completed by Dec 15, 2019.