BMA completes probe into Santika Pub inferno

 

BahtandSold

 

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's probe into the Santika Pub inferno that killed 66 people and injured many others on New Year's Eve has found district officials from the public works office as well as district director guilty of not inspecting the building, a BMA source said yesterday.
The investigation committee submitted a 1,000-page report to city clerk Pongsak Semsan on Monday. After summoning some 15 involved officials, the committee concluded that there were three faults: the consideration of the permit before it was issued; building inspection during construction; and inspection of the building's modification.
The committee also found that the pub's building did not comply with the blueprint submitted and that the owners had not sought permission for modifying the building, nor did they apply for a permit for the usage of the building, the source said.
In other words, the club owners had not obtained any permits for the building.
As for inspection during construction, the committee said it suspected it had not been studied by the public works, thus deeming it a negligence of duty, despite officials' claims of having done so.
As for taxes, the committee only inspected taxes that directly involved BMA, namely property and land taxes, and found that the faults in this aspect did not compare to the faults with the building.
City officials also presented the committee with documents warning the club owner to pay taxes between 2005 and 2008, which means the officials had done their duty, the source said. Besides property and land taxes could be collected as far back as ten years thus its statute of liberty was still active.
The source said the committee identified officials involved in the case, which included district public works officials and their supervisor.
Deputy Bangkok Governor Prakob Jirakitti said he was told that the investigation report had been completed but hadn't seen the report yet because it had probably been sent to the city clerk first. He confirmed that if any officials were identified as being at fault, they would face legal action.

 

 

 

City officials face investigation

 

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration inquiry committee looking into alleged corruption involving the Santika pub has found five officials have a case to answer over disciplinary offences, a source at City Hall says.
Three were accused of serious disciplinary offences and the other two of minor breaches.
The panel has reported its findings to Bangkok city clerk Pongsak Semsan but yesterday he refused to comment.
The source said those accused of serious disciplinary offences were a public works chief, a building control section chief and a building inspector who has already retired. They are accused of recklessly violating the Building Control Act.
The panel found the pub was not built according to the blueprint submitted to the BMA, while the pub operator did not seek approval for modifications to the pub.
The two others are the director of Watthana district where the operator of the Santika sought approval for the building and a building inspector who took Santika's blueprint from the district office in 2007 and lost it, the source said.
The five will be notified of the alleged offences.
The city clerk will then appoint another disciplinary panel to investigate the allegations. If found guilty, those accused of committing serious disciplinary offences could be fired from the BMA or transferred.
Those transferred would still be eligible for a pension. Those dismissed would go without.