Members of airport committee opt to take the silent approach 06/03/2006
AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK
Officials in charge of the Suvarnabhumi airport project were yesterday reluctant to let caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra know that the new airport was not likely to be ready in time for an opening in late June due to a delay in some of the construction work. The topic came up for discussion again during a meeting of the Suvarnabhumi airport panel, chaired by Mr Thaksin. ''During the meeting, the prime minister asked who was confident the airport would open for commercial use on schedule in June, but no one answered,'' said a source from the panel, who requested anonymity. Srisook Chandrangsu, president of Airports of Thailand, suggested the prime minister delay the opening after a report showed many parts of the construction were slightly behind schedule, the source said. The source said a passenger building, a parking area for planes near a warehouse building, and a luggage conveyor system were presently behind schedule. Although the majority of the construction work had been completed by December 2005, the airport still had to undergo a complete system test for least 180 days under the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (Icao). Transport Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal said the panel had approved a budget of 214.3 million baht for King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Lat Krabang campus. The campus, which is close to the site of the new airport, had been commissioned to study ways of reducing the impact of noise pollution from flights on nearby communities. The funds would also be used to improve buildings on the campus. The minister earlier got the nod from Mr Thaksin to postpone until May 28 the calling of tenders for megaprojects originally set for April 28 pending the polls. The projects, including 423 billion baht earmarked for the mass transit system, are part of the government's 1.8-trillion-baht plan to modernise the country. A source from the Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning Office said Mr Thaksin's approval of a postponement of the tendering date had come about as he wanted the elections to pass and the government to be in place with the necessary legitimacy to rule.