The labour union of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has urged the government to help resolve a legal challenge involving 58 billion baht owed to Hong Kong's Hopewell Holdings over a cancelled rail project dating back decades.
In a statement on Wednesday, the union said the SRT should not have to deal with such a heavy financial burden alone and the government must intervene to mitigate the impact on the nation.
The Supreme Administrative Court on Monday ordered the SRT and Transport Ministry to pay 11.88 billion baht before interest to the company for having axed the project to build an elevated highway and rail line from central Bangkok to Don Mueang International Airport.
Construction began in 1990 but was suspended in 1992. The project ground to a halt amid much legal wrangling in 1997, when it was just over 10% complete, and was finally cancelled in 1998.
The damages comprise a 9-billion-baht repayment for construction costs incurred by Hopewell, 2.85 billion baht for land use fees the company paid to the SRT, and a 38-million-baht fee the Hong Kong infrastructure and property firm shelled out to guarantee the project.
The court ordered that the payments be made within 180 days. Due to the accrued interest at a rate of 7.5% a year, the total costs are now estimated at 58 billion baht.
The union said the government should consider including the SRT's bid to chase down Hopewell for 200 billion baht as a condition while the SRT seeks to negotiate with the company over the total damages.
Also, since this government in 2016 looked into a similar payout in the 23-billion-baht Klong Dan wastewater treatment project, and successfully sought to suspend implementation of the ordered payout, it should do the same with the Hopewell scandal, the union said.
The Pollution Control Department (PCD) was in 2014 ordered by the Supreme Administrative Court to pay 9 billion baht in compensation to a consortium of developers -- NVPSKG -- of the Klong Dan wastewater treatment plant for the state's termination of that project in 2003.
The government should take this case and other legal precedents into consideration, the union said.
