Transport plan costs surge to B3tr | Bangkok Post: news
Transport plan costs surge to B3tr
A transport strategy committee has approved a 3-trillion-baht infrastructure development plan adding more than a trillion baht to the planned infrastructure spending projects of the previous government .
The committee, chaired by transport permanent secretary Somchai Siriwattanachoke, on Wednesday resolved to forward the new spending plan to National Council for Peace and Order deputy chief Prajin Juntong Juntong who is in charge of economic affairs for the junta, for consideration on June 19.
The committee, which falls under the Transport Ministry, drafted the plan which retains most of the land infrastructure development projects devised under the 2-trillion-baht loan scheme of the ousted former government.
It also involves new projects to be launched for aviation and water transport infrastructure improvement projects .
The junta earlier decided to axe 800 billion baht worth of high-speed train projects from the original 2-trillion-baht scheme, saying they were not feasible .
The exclusion of the high-speed train projects reduced the value of the scheme to 1.2 trillion baht.
But the additional water and aviation infrastructure projects proposed by the committee mean the cost of the comprehensive development scheme has now ballooned to 3 trillion baht .
Mr Somchai said the development scheme will be implemented between next year and 2022
He said ACM Prajin will look at the proposed spending on June 19, and the plan presented to him will have to contain precise details of the costs to be footed per year during the implementation period .
He said ACM Prajin had asked that the infrastructure development plan expand from land transport projects to include aviation and water transport as well .
The 2-trillion-baht scheme initiated by the previous government dealt mostly with road expansion and railway construction projects.
Mr Somchai said the aviation infrastructure development plans had mainly pushed up the cost of the scheme
Chula Sukmanop, director-general of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning, said the new projects will be an extension of the original 2-trillion-baht scheme
The new-look scheme will constitute an infrastructure development master plan requiring investment from related state enterprises .
After the NCPO has finished considering the 3-trillion-baht scheme, the ministry will discuss with the Budget Bureau the procurement and allocation of funds for the projects .
Ranked high on the large-scale infrastructure spending are dual-track railways along six routes, covering a total of 1,364km at a total cost of 140 billion baht
Mr Chula earlier said the mass-transit routes and some dual-track railways should rely on domestic and foreign loans
The additional water and aviation infrastructure projects include the building of a seaport, the phase-two expansion of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports, and construction of new air traffic control facilities.
The spending plan for the aviation infrastructure segment will also involve the purchase of new aircraft for Thai Airways International.
This is the final plan submitted by the Yingluck government before street chaos, House dissolutuion and a military coup. Junta authorities have reportedly scrapped the high-speed trains from the plan but added additional land, sea and air infrastructure facilities.
Transport plan costs surge to B3tr | Bangkok Post: news