The Department of Local Administration (DLA) ordered every provincial governor across the country to widen their probes into possible price collusion in the procurement of rubbish and sewage trucks.
The move came after the police's Counter Corruption Division (CCD) found irregularities that suggested corruption in procurement projects at certain local administrations.
The DLA is requesting all provinces to investigate which of their local administration organisations have already implemented the rubbish and sewage truck procurement project, Sutthiphong Juljaroen, director-general of the DLA, said on Saturday.
All provincial governors were ordered to report back to the DLA and advised to conduct their own probes.
If local administrators are found guilty, civil, criminal and disciplinary action will then have to be pursued against them by their provincial authorities, he said.
Ten provinces have already responded to the DLA's request for cooperation.
They are Phetchabun, Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi, Chiang Mai, Phitsanulok, Chon Buri, Samut Sakhon, Rayong, Sing Buri and Sri Sa Ket.
Among them, Phetchabun, Samut Prakan and Nonthaburi have already lodged complaints with police about irregularities in the rubbish and sewage truck procurement project at their local administration organisations, he said.
The rest will do the same when they finish compiling evidence to back their complaints, he said.
Irregularities in this procurement project have emerged since 2015 and the CCD had found evidence of price collusion and irregularities in median prices quoted in bids for a contract to supply the trucks for at least 21 local administration organisations, he said. The CCD had already forwarded its reports of investigation conducted at 20 out of the 21 organisations to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for further investigation, he said.
The report of the CCD's probe at the other organisation is still being processed and will be forwarded to the NACC, he said.
In related news, Manager Online reported on Friday about a delay in the work of cleaning up drains in all 50 districts.
The delay is blamed mainly on City Hall's new law regulating its procurement and hiring projects, which prohibits districts from hiring the Department of Corrections to do the job as they used to do.
In the first two quarters of fiscal year 2018, about 56 million baht out of the total budget of 220 million baht set aside for funding City Hall's drain cleaning project has already been disbursed.