The CJPA suspect that the apartment buildings fell victim to high-level corruption. In Phuket there are three of them. Across the country there are a “stunning” 163 uncompleted police accommodation buildings.
Not only that, but they found 396 part-built police stations across the country that had been abandoned since 2010. The ‘value’ of the unfinished works could be as much as B8 billion.
Every one of the abandoned construction sites was originally started by a single company, PCC Development & Construction, under contract to the Royal Thai Police.
The President of the CJPA, Pol Lt Gen Manote Kraiwong, told a press conference at Kathu Police Station yesterday evening that the committee suspected corruption for two reasons: the use of a single contractor to handle hundreds of police buildings across the country, and the fact that so many had not been completed.
During visits to construction sites in Krabi, Surat Thani and Phuket, the CJPA found out that even the labor camps at the construction sites were empty.
Some construction sites showed sloppiness in design or construction, he added. For example, one set of uncompleted police flats in Krabi was in a landslide risk area. Other sites had construction that was not in accordance with the details in construction drawings.
“This shows a lack of responsibility that might have caused losses in the future,” Gen Manote said.
Adding to the suspicion of corruption was the fact that just one police officer was given the job of overseeing 35 construction sites in seven provinces.
The scandal initially came to light when Police Region 8 complained to the CJPA that its officers were in difficulty because neither their workplaces nor their accommodation seemed to be getting any closer to completion.
The letter led the CJPA to start an investigation, which in turn led to the discovery of “a stunning number” of uncompleted buildings.
Gen Manote said that when Pol Gen Patcharawat Wongsuwan became Chief of the Royal Thai Police in 2008 each police region hired different contractors.
The policy was changed after Gen Patcharawat was dumped by the new Democrat government in 2010, said Gen Manote. The Royal Thai Police then came up with a decision to hire one contractor for every police construction project in the country.
On average, the unfinished police flats were estimated to be about 50-per-cent done, while the police stations were hardly started – just 2-per-cent done.
The contracts with PCC are due to expire soon – in April for police flats, and in June for police stations. The CJPA plans to question management of PCC and senior offiocers in the Royal Thai Police.
if hard evidence of corruption can be obtained, the CJPA will pass the case and all the details to the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.