SEVEN AGENCIES ON FIRE TRUCK PROBE PANEL

       Justice Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga has volunteered to chair the joint committee tasked with examining the scandalplagued firevehicle deal.
       "The committee will comprise representatives from seven agencies," Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday.
       They are Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Commerce Ministry, the Office of AttorneyGeneral, the Comptroller General's Department and the Justice Ministry.
       "The panel members will share their opinions about the deal," Sukhumbhand said. "We will try to determine whether it can be considered a governmenttogovernment deal."
       Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in 2003 by then interiorminister Bhokin Bhalakula and thenAustrian ambassador to Thailand, the BMA entered into a deal to purchase fire vehicles from an Austrian supplier for Bt6.68 billion.
       However, investigations later showed that the vehicles were being sold at a highly inflated price and that the deal was mired in corruption.
       The National AntiCorruption Commission has found several politicians, including Bhokin, guilty.
       So far, BMA has partially paid for the contract and several fire vehicles have already been delivered. Now the BMA is trying to scrap the contract to stop any additional payments.
       "For a long time, BMA felt it had to fight this case alone, but having the joint panel will make a difference," Sukhumbhand said.
       The city governor has, so far, insisted that he would not deploy the fire vehicles, as suggested by the Interior Ministry, while all involved parties are trying to sort out the problems.
       "I am afraid that the use of the fire vehicles will affect our attempt to annul the purchase contract," he said.