Due to a decade-long legal dispute surrounding the controversial purchase, the desperately needed vehicles had been locked up in a warehouse, and are now in need of substantial repairs and maintenance.

The Mechanical Engineering Division of the BMA is now working to repair 71 of the fire trucks.

“The cost of repair and maintenance for each of these trucks would be between Bt200,000 and Bt300,000,” Deputy Bangkok Governor Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang said yesterday.

He said 35 of the trucks should be ready for use before the end of this month. He said to repair these trucks, it would be necessary to break down one of the vehicles for parts.

“Following the repairs, these fire trucks should be in usable condition for at least five years,” Aswin said. The trucks were not commissioned soon after Austrian supplier Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug delivered them in 2006 due to a Bt6.6-billion corruption scandal. Senior officials including ex-former deputy interior minister Pracha Maleenont were convicted in the scandal. Pracha is now on the run.

Last year, an arbitrator based in Switzerland ordered Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug, an Austrian manufacturer of fire trucks, to pay Bt800 million to the BMA and suggested that the BMA should use the vehicles.

On August 31 this year, the BMA brought the trucks out of the warehouse.

“We have checked the vehicles and found that we should be able to fix 71 trucks. But in the cases of 105 other fire vehicles, the BMA’s Mechanical Engineering Division cannot handle the repairs. So, we will have to hire an expert later,” Aswin explained yesterday.

He said the 71 repaired trucks should be ready and in operation by the Bangkok Fire and Rescue Department by the end of next month.

“For the 105 fire vehicles to be repaired by an expert, we will choose a contractor in December and we expect to see the repairs done within a budget of Bt153 million by March 2017,” he said.

Today, the BMA will meet with representatives of the Namyong Terminal Public Company Limited to discuss the massive parking fee related to the fire vehicles that were held in its facilities for 10 years.

The court has arranged the mediation sessions for the firm and the BMA.

“The firm still demands about Bt427 million in parking fees. But we will be able to pay Bt200 million at the most,” Aswin said.

Bangkok Fire and Rescue Department deputy chief Somkiat Nontakaew said his department now had about 500 fire vehicles. “But most of them have been in services for well over 20 years already,” he said. “Normally, the life of such vehicles ranges between 15 and 20 years only.”

 

Sukhumbhand was initially scheduled to join official celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of Bangkok’s ties with its sister city Seoul, from August 25 to August 28.

He learned of his suspension at Hong Kong International Airport while waiting for his connecting flight to Seoul. He decided to continue with the group to Seoul but left the official party when it arrived in South Korea.

Sukhumbhand’s adviser Wasan Meewong said yesterday: “Because of the suspension order, he separated himself from the trip of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) executives.

“He has accepted the order and will not appeal.”

He added that he did not know when Sukhumbhand would return to Thailand.

“But I believe he will not hold any press conference. Neither will he delegate duties and responsibilities to the BMA executives because the suspension order has already taken effect,” Wasan said.

On Thursday, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha exercised his power as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) chief under Article 44 of the Interim Constitution to suspend Sukhumbhand from duty. But officially, Sukhumbhand has not been sacked as Bangkok’s governor.

Prayut explained yesterday that the suspension order was in response to a complaint from the Office of the Auditor General. “But I have not said that he is involved in corruption,” Prayut said, noting that Sukhumbhand still have opportunities to contest the allegations.

The Office of the Auditor General has found alleged irregularities in the BMA’s decorative lighting project and pursued the case against Sukhumbhand.

“If his name is cleared later on, the suspension will end,” Prayut said.

The prime minister denied any suggestion that Sukhumbhand faced the suspension partly because of his perceived failure to solve Bangkok’s flood problems.

Sukhumbhand is among the latest locally elected politicians to face suspension over scandals.

“I have used the same standard for them all,” Prayut said.

Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya, who heads the Centre for National Anti-Corruption (CNAC), said the CNAC had played no role in Sukhumbhand’s suspension.

Sukhumbhand has twice won Bangkok governor elections. He began his second term in 2013.

However, he has been involved in several scandals during his terms.

The Democrat Party, which fielded him as its candidate for the city |governor’s position, has already |disowned him.

The party took the action earlier this year after Sukhumbhand repeatedly refused to talk to his party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva about the New Year lighting project and other allegations.

In the wake of Sukhumbhand’s suspension, Abhisit said yesterday he had already apologised to the public for not being able to keep the current BMA administration under check.

“His (Sukhumbhand’s) team has worked independently,” Abhisit said.

Asked whether the Democrat Party would consider fielding an outsider as its next gubernatorial candidate, Abhisit said his party had not consider-ed the issue because it was unclear whether a gubernatorial race would be held.

Abhisit refused to comment on whether Sukhumbhand’s case would hurt the image of the party.

“We have already told the truth to the public. No matter how people react, we have to accept that,” he said.

The project has faced criticism for alleged overpriced furniture and renovation cost.

Wasant Meewong, adviser to the governor, said the cost included renovating the offices of deputy governors, advisers and secretaries, as well as meeting rooms, a reception room and the Amarin room.

The project was initiated after the ceiling of a bathroom collapsed. Technicians found that the piping above the ceiling in many areas needed repair.

What started from the bathroom had expanded to other rooms after the ceilings had to be opened for repairs, he said.

Sukhumbhand had nothing to do with the renovation because during that period he had taken leave of office.

“When he returned to the office, the remodelling was over,” he said.

The dining tables and chairs were for the reception room and big screen televisions were not for personal entertainment but for flood-monitoring and for meetings for other occasions.

Sukhumbhand declined to comment about the report, saying the city clerk had given an interview on it already.

City clerk Peerapong Saichua said a fact-finding panel has been appointed with a deputy city clerk or the inspector-general heading it to look into who were involved in the project and whether there were any irregularities.

The panel would take 60 days to complete its work, he said.