ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation
RICE SCANDAL
Ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra and her then commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom are personally liable for a combined damage bill of more than Bt300 billion as a result of the scrapped rice-pledging scheme, according to the latest report submitted to the national rice policy and management committee.
PM’s Office Minister ML Panadda Diskul said the report would be discussed at a committee meeting chaired by the prime minister on Tuesday.
According to the report by Jirachai Moonthongro, who heads the civil liability fact-finding committee looking into the scheme initiated by the Yingluck government, Yingluck is liable for an estimated Bt286 billion in damages and Boonsong Bt18.7 billion.
The Yingluck government spent a huge amount of state money to buy rice from farmers at a price much higher than the market value, resulting in losses estimated at more than Bt500 billion.
Nearly 13 million tonnes remains in the government’s inventory because less than a million tonnes was exported, the report found.
ML Panadda said the measures taken against the previous government should serve as a lesson as politicians could be liable for civil liability for policies that caused financial damage to taxpayers.
Jirachai said Yingluck’s civil liability figure was cited during his testimony before the Supreme Court on a related criminal case against her for alleged negligence while Boonsong’s damage bill was caused by fake government-to-government rice deals during his tenure.