PUBLISHED : 23 Nov 2023 at 04:00
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will ask the Ministry of Interior and the cabinet to decide if the BMA is liable for paying the first tranche of debt, worth about 23 billion baht, owed to the operator of the Green Line electric rail service.
Despite his previous statement in July that the BMA had agreed to pay this amount to Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC), Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt insisted yesterday the debt payment must first be approved by the ministry and the cabinet before they inform the BMA of their decision and ask it to take action accordingly.
The agreement resulting in the BMA being asked to pay the 23 billion baht to BTSC for the overdue payment of costs covering the installation of the electrical and mechanical systems (E&M) of the Green Line’s extensions was signed under an order of the now-defunct National Council for Peace and Order.
It was allowed under powers granted by Section 44 of the past interim charter and bypassed the usual scrutiny imposed under the public-private joint venture law.
As the debts under the Green Line project keep accumulating, the BMA is still negotiating with the BTSC, he said. “And even though we want this matter to end as soon as possible, it now depends on how the government decides on the Section 44 matter,” Mr Chadchart said. The BMA plans to begin charging passengers from mid-January for the Green Line’s 2nd extension a flat rate of 15 baht per trip, in a bid to slow down the rising debt.
The 2nd extension refers to the Bearing-Samut Prakan and Mo Chit-Saphan Mai-Khu Khot sections. The new fare will likely cause the average number of passengers — around 400,000 per day — or trips made on these two sections to fall significantly, said Mr Chadchart.
There are currently around 1 million passengers or trips per day on the Green Line’s main section and 1st extension. The main section refers to the Mo Chit-On Nut and National Stadium-Saphan Taksin sections, wheras the 1st extension refers to the On Nut-Bearing and Saphan Taksin-Bang Wa extensions.
Aside from the 23 billion baht debt, the BMA also owes the BTSC 30 billion in costs related to hiring BTSC to provide operation and maintenance services.