Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit was urged yesterday to ignore the results of the probe into alleged corruption in the ministry's Thai Khemkhaeng project by the factfinding committee led by Dr Banlu Siripanich due to the alleged use of faulty evidence.
Dr Oraphan Methadilokkul, who led a committee on Saraburi's health problems from toxic contamination, said yesterday that she had asked Jurin to stop using the Banluled committee's report on the Thai Khemkhaeng scandal because Wichai and Banlu had allegedly forged a report about a 24room flat for nurses.
Oraphan also urged Jurin to proceed with criminal actions against Wichai and the committee members over the allegedly forged report and to consider firing Wichai from his executive positions at the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation board, the National Health Security Office board, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation and the National Health Commission of Thailand.
Oraphan said that he also told the prime minister and the public health minister that they should not use the factfinding report by the committee led by Banlu, with Wichai as secretary, on four grounds:
The government assigned persons were related to the plaintiffs as committee members
The committee used hearsay evidence as a factfinding method
The committee concluded that a person's behaviour was "within a frame of corruption", when such a vague approach should not be part of factfinding.
The committee also held a press conference tarnishing the image of the ministry and the accused persons and agencies. Some information presented at the press conference was untrue, especially information regarding the Nopparat Rajthani Hospital construction. This untrue information resulted from the committee's mistakes.
Oraphan added that Arunchai Seri, consulting engineer, had confirmed that the construction cost of a 24room flat for nurses submitted to the ministry was Bt8.3 million, not Bt72 million as the committee claimed in its report.
Wichai then explained that the information was obtained via a telephone inquiry. She said the minister must do something about it or he would be neglecting his duty and harming society's morality.