Concern over transfer of PTT assets to state

General News - Monday December 17, 2007

Bangkok Post

LANDMARK RULING ACTIVISTS SEEK CLARIFICATION

Concern over transfer of PTT assets to state

PIYAPORN WONGRUANG ANCHALEE KONGRUT

Consumers rights advocates who have been battling against the privatisation of PTT are to ask the Supreme Administrative Court to issue guidelines for the planned transfer of assets as well as full authority over associated assets back to the state. The groups, led by the Foundation for Consumers, said they will also demand the government set up a neutral body to supervise the transfer, instead of leaving the task to the four defendants in the recent case _ the cabinet, the prime minister, the energy minister and PTT.

The new demands follow the court's verdict on Friday that PTT would remain a listed company out of concern for the economic impact of delisting, but the four defendants have to transfer state assets comprising the gas transmission pipeline system and the land and the right of way to the state.

However, activists are worried about a move by the defendants to rush through the transfer of those assets in the absence of any clear procedures that ensure transparency, the groups' representative, Sairung Thongplon, said yesterday.

She pointed out that several assets of the company were not specifically mentioned in the legal battle. They include the controversial Thai-Malaysia gas transmission pipeline in the South, and there are questions over whether they are subject to the transfer orders.

Ms Sairung said the groups paid particular attention to the transfer of state power from the company, adding the issue requires careful consideration for the sake of the public interest.

She likened the issue to sharing an inheritance.

''Before the inheritance is shared, we have to first know what we actually have so that we can know what is to be shared and what is not.

''The company's assets as well as its authority should therefore be made clear before any further steps are taken,'' Ms Sairung said.

The government planned to finish the transfer tomorrow so the trading of the company's shares could resume.

Soraida Tohlee, 54, a villager from Songkhla's Chana district, which has been affected by the conflict over the gas pipeline, said villagers' lives would be affected regardless of whether the pipelines are transferred back to the state or not.

''We still have to bear the effects from PTT's project whether it is a state enterprise or a private firm,'' she said.

Mrs Soraida said Muslim villagers in the district planned to travel to Bangkok to ask for help from Muslim spiritual leaders as the PTT pipeline runs through sacred land Muslim clerics have donated to a mosque.

''When PTT became a public company it continued to make use of state power in a bid to finish the project,'' she said.

Rosana Tositrakul, who led the consumer groups, tried to calm the villagers' fears, saying the Dec 14 verdict would benefit the community.

''The court verdict is very clear, that the PTT is no longer part of the state and it has lost the quasi monopoly status it once enjoyed,'' she said.

''All assets acquired under its joint venture are now considered public property and all stakeholders must be careful in handling this issue.''