Bangkok – The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is sending fireboats related to a fireboat and fire-truck corruption case of 2003 in for repairs before putting them into service.
The court of arbitration ruled on November 12, 2014 that the boats, valued at over 6.6 billion baht, belong to the BMA. The BMA has since negotiated with a docking company to waive rental fees and will now put the vessels to use.
BMA Governor Pol Gen Asawin Kwanmuang inspected 12 fireboats, which were transported from the docking company in Chonburi to Samsen Fire Station on Tuesday. All 30 vessels involved in the case will gradually be transported along with equipment for repair. He said that repair costs for each vessel should not exceed 800,000 baht.
The BMA is also surveying fireboat docks along the Chao Phraya River between Nonthaburi and Samutprakarn. It is estimated that 10 ships will be repaired by September this year. Due to the size of the vessels, they will not be able to travel along narrow canals. Therefore, the BMA has decided to retain no more than 12 vessels, while the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation will decide where the remaining 18 are to be deployed for the best use of taxpayer money.
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