PUBLISHED: 23 Nov 2024 at 06: 10
The Bangkok Metropolitan Council has approved the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s request for a 14.54 billion-baht budget to pay Bangkok’s BTS Skytrain’s operator, Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc ( BTS ).
Bangkok’s governor Chadchart Sittipunt presented a draft ordinance for an additional$ 14.54 billion baht budget allocation for the 2025 fiscal year at a council meeting on Friday.
According to a decision from the Supreme Administrative Court in July, the funds are intended to settle outstanding obligations related to the operation and maintenance of the BTS Green Line.
As of Nov 1, the BMA’s financial resources for the 2025 governmental month amounted to 81.43 billion baht, with unfettered cash totalling 38.3 billion ringgit.
While this allocation will address a part of the city’s economic duty, council Napapol Jirakul, representing Bangkok Noi area, pointed out that the BMA’s total liabilities are around 40 billion rmb, incurring daily interest charges of 7 million baht.
He emphasized that paying off the interest on the loan may save more than 100 million baht, which could be diverted to other development tasks.
A 24-member ad-hoc committee was set up to evaluate the law after the council unanimously approved Mr. Chadchart’s proposal by a majority of 37 members. To finalize the document, the committee has 45 days to explicit and a 10-day time for amendments.
The government claimed that the Supreme Administrative Court had already decided to dismiss more appeals because the NACC’s studies had already been taken into account in its discussion.
But, requests for information on the observations from the NACC were denied.