The investigation into alleged graft in the procurement of exercise equipment for seven recreation and sports centres across the capital has found no evidence of wrongdoing.
The conclusion of the inquiry, which was launched in June last year, was announced by Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt on Monday. The investigation was initiated to find if there were any grounds for the allegations of graft by 29 Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) officials in the procurement project, which was valued at 77.22 million baht.
The project was launched to equip seven recreation and sports centres across the city -- namely On Nut Sports Centre, the 72nd Anniversary Stadium, Mitr Maitree Sports Centre, Wachirabenchathat Sports Centre, Waree Phirom Sports Centre, BMA Recreation Centre and Wat Dok Mai Recreation Centre -- with exercise equipment for the public to use.
The controversy began when the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand (ACT) said last year that the procurement terms unfairly favoured some contenders over others. For example, for a company to participate in the project, they must have won at least 40 contracts of a similar value, meaning only two companies qualified to participate in the bidding.
These companies secured the contracts with inflated prices, with items like a treadmill listed as costing 759,000 baht -- far above the market rate of 100,000 to 300,000 baht.
Mr Chadchart had previously said that the issue was partly due to the flaws in the state procurement law. However, the governor's latest decree, issued on Jan 14, stated that the inquiry found no evidence that indicated that the officials had violated procurement regulations.
