Decision on fire-truck scandal near

An 11member committee, chaired by Deputy AttorneyGeneral Seema Wannakowit, has been set up to discuss whether a civil lawsuit against Austrian manufacturer Steyr Daimler Puch be lodged with the Civil Court or the Intellectual Property Court, an OAG source said yesterday. The suit would be filed in case the Bt6.68billion procurement deal is nullified.

Another OAG panel has recently agreed to retroactively dismiss former city clerk Natthanon Dhaweesin for failing to prevent the deal from being struck. The panel, under the recommendation of the National AntiCorruption Commission, also dishonourably discharged Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) chief firefighter Athilak Tanchookiat.

The new panel will meet next Monday, and deputy Bangkok governor Malinee Sukkhavejvorakit said she expected it to reach a conclusion no later than the following week. She said the BMA should complete a report on the condition of the firetrucks in the OAG's custody by today.

Bangkok governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said he believed in that the OAG was capable and had the knowledge to fight legal battles with Steyr Daimler Puch and that the BMA would drop its earlier plan to have private lawyers to do the job. He said he was not worried that the Austrian company would deem lawsuits filed with Thai courts as invalid, because the deal was signed in Thailand and Thai courts had jurisdiction over it.