Senate panel wants to examine old-rice stockpile

The government plans to auction off the old, stockpiled corn, but the senatorial committee on consumer protection wants to know how good it is. It also believes there are legal issues with its price.

Sen. Somchai Swangkarn, the committee’s chair, said on Tuesday that they had requested admittance to the corn stored in two&nbsp stores in Surin state for the past ten years so they could inspect the grain’s value for themselves. &nbsp,

The grain was leftover from the original Yingluck Shinawatra administration’s rice-pledging strategy. The Commerce Ministry plans to auction it off, looking to Africa as the potential market, and declares that it is still nutritious. It has already been checked. &nbsp,

Mr. Somchai claimed that there was no conclusive evidence that samples taken from the previous Surin hoard had been subjected to prior tests.

Additionally, Mr. Somchai added that there might be constitutional issues. The success rejected the majority of the wheat because it turned out to be simple white rice, no sweet corn, but one of the two warehouses had auctioned off 29, 000 tonnes of the rice.

At the other inventory, Mr Somchai said, a customer had registered a charge for the grain, but did not claim the corn.

Both scenarios were still with the authorities.

The Senate agency’s investigation of the corn, if it confirms the quality, may help improve confidence when the government acts to sell it elsewhere, Mr Somchai said. &nbsp,

Outgoing senator Somchai Swangkarn