Contractors are owed bt80 bn

The Thai Contractors Association has appealed to the government to accelerate delayed payment of Bt80 billion for completed construction projects.

"The funds will help the industry's liquidity," Polpat Karnasuta, president of the association, said yesterday.

The association also asked the government to kick off the mega-infrastructure projects so jobs can be created, particularly in the construction business, which employs up to 1 million workers. The stalled mega-projects and weakening property market have caused more than 10 construction companies to go out of business, he said.

Some 500 firms, which won government contracts and started delivering completed projects to the government last year, have not been paid yet for work worth Bt80 billion.

"The government's tardiness in paying for construction from last year makes the construction companies encounter a cash-flow crisis," he said.

The association petitioned the government on the overdue payments.

If the government were to speed up payments for construction costs, that would give a faster boost to spending than the government's stimulus package, he said.

To boost purchasing power, the government has to move quickly in launching the mega-projects that will generate more than 1 million jobs and save contractors that now are considering cutting costs by laying off staff, he said.

Polpat, who is the chairman of Nawarat Patanakarn, said his company is considering axing some jobs that do not have new contracts, if the government postponed allocating budgets for the mega-projects. More than 90 per cent of its contracts are government projects.