Firetruck scandal should be dealt with by August

"The case should be concluded by August," Sukhumbhand said yesterday, adding that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) was preparing information to be used in talks with SteyrDaimler PuchSpezialfahrzeug.

The firm had been contracted to supply firetrucks, but several factfinding panels concluded that the deal was mired in corruption.

Right after Sukhumbhand was elected as Bangkok governor earlier this year, he vowed to tackle the issue.

"If necessary, I will also go to the US to talk to General Dynamics Corporation, the parent company of SteyrDaimler Puch," Sukhumbhand said, adding that he hoped the talks would be completed before the BMA was obliged to pay its sixth instalment in August.

"If it doesn't work out, we will have to file a lawsuit," he said.

According to Sukhumbhand, Austrian Ambassador Arno Riedel said the contract with the SteyrDaimler Puch was a not a governmenttogovernment paper - a key point to the negotiation.

Earlier, it was believed that the firetruck deal was related to the two governments given that it was based on an memorandum of understanding signed by Bhokin Bhalakula, then interior minister, and thenAustrian ambassador to Bangkok.