The scandal involving the bogus GT200 bomb detectors seems to return to haunt the government every now and again.
Most recently, another element to the controversial procurement order was revealed by Move Forward Party MP for Chachoengsao, Jira Thongsuwan, during a House debate on next year's budget. He said that the army awarded a 7.5-million-baht contract to the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) to examine the 757 detectors it had purchased, for about 10,000 baht per device.
He lambasted the contract, saying that it simply wasn't rational to spend that amount of money to inspect devices that were already widely known to be fraudulent -- past inspections of the devices had shown that the detectors were nothing more than a plastic box with no electrical components.
The revelation triggered widespread public outrage, with a well-known activist pledging to bring the case to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Over a dozen state agencies, from the army to the anti-narcotics agency, were lured into buying the devices. Between 2005-2010, some 1,350 of them were purchased from UK-based Global Technical Ltd for over 1.13 billion baht.
The Abhisit Vejjajiva administration ultimately ordered agencies to stop using the devices, amid news that they might not be working as claimed. That said, as the detectors were widely used in the deep South, numerous losses of lives and injuries were blamed on the bogus detectors.
Things became clear in 2016 when a UK court handed down a 10-year prison sentence to James McCormick for selling the fraudulent devices. It was found that the devices had been sold to several countries, including Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain.
Defence Ministry spokesman Gen Kongcheep Tantravanich defended the NSTDA contract, saying the army was acting on the advice of the Office of the Attorney-General, which helped file the case with the Administrative Court against the GT200's local distributor, AVA Satcom -- as well as two banks in their capacity as guarantors -- seeking 683 million baht in compensation. In March, AVA Satcom which was ordered to pay damages to the army, decided not to appeal the verdict.
Yesterday, OAG spokesman Prayut Phetkun said during an interview with a radio programme that the agency did actually give this advice, but conceded that the inspection of the devices took place way too late.
The latest GT200 drama speaks volumes about the unhealthy manner in which the government manages its budget, with no safeguards in place to protect against misuse. In fact, the most recent episode in the bogus bomb detector saga is just one among plenty of other instances of budget abuse.
The re-emergence of the GT200 scandal has made the public realise there has been no probe into the controversial procurement of the bomb detectors, as well as other devices deemed as a waste, such as a widely mocked surveillance airship.
The government must realise that it has to launch inquiries to assure the public that those who approved reckless purchases using the state budget at the expense of taxpayers will be brought to justice.
