The Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO) will seek the Commerce Ministry's approval to burn rotten tapioca and corn kept under state pledging schemes, to reduce storage expense.
PWO board chairman Kraiboon Suadsong will discuss the issue with Commerce Minister Apiradee Tantraporn on Friday.
The proposal involves 31,400 tonnes of tapioca (also known as cassava and manioc) in the 2008-09 pledging scheme, 99,000 tonnes in the 2011-12 programme, and 250,000 tonnes in the 2012-13 scheme.
The 2008-09 programme was initiated by the Somchai Wongsawat government, while the 2011-12 and 2012-13 schemes were driven by the Yingluck Shinawatra administration.
Pol Maj Gen Kraiboon said most of the stored tapioca can no longer be consumed or even used as animal feed. It needs to be incinerated to save storage costs, which currently stand at 11 million baht a month.
The 2008-09 stock will be prioritised for burning as it has disintegrated into powder, he said.
"The burning cost is not known. Approval is needed from the commerce minister and the tapioca policy and management committee first before the process can be studied in detail," said Pol Maj Gen Kraiboon.
Flashback: Workers load corn onto a truck in Tak's Phob Phra district in September, 2008. The Public Warehouse Organisation says this corn, purchased under state-controlled prices of 9 baht per kilogramme, has been left rotting ever since. (Photo by Assawin Pinijwong)
The PWO board chairman said portions of stock under the 2011-12 and 2012-13 schemes can still be used to produce energy, citing Energy Ministry advice.
Power plants, however, must make sure they prevent dust from escaping the factory, as this can cause air pollution, he said.
The Department of Industrial Works is searching for such plants, said Pol Maj Gen Kraiboon, adding if none can be found, the stock will be incinerated.
Regarding the 2008-09 pledging programmes, the PWO has filed 22 police complaints against warehouses and surveyors because some batches of tapioca went missing, and others degraded, Pol Maj Gen Kraiboon said, adding that 11 complaints were lodged under the 2011-12 scheme and 54 more under the 2012-13 programme.
He said 94,000 tonnes of corn (also called maize) under the 2008-09 pledging scheme was found to have rotted. Approval is also needed to burn it. A total of 1.5 million tonnes of corn was pledged under the scheme at 8.50 baht per kg.
According to the Thai Tapioca Development Institute, tapioca root was pledged at 1.80 baht/kg at the start of the 2008-09 programme.
The pledge price was raised to 2 baht/kg in February 2009, with another five satang added each month until April. A total of 10 million tonnes of tapioca was pledged in the 2008-09 scheme.