The GT200 bomb detectors, which are used in the far South, do work and they have detected explosives many times, Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat said on Thursday.
ACM Sukumpol said this after Department of Special Investigation (DSI) director general Tarit Pengdit said on Wednesday that the GT200 and Alpha 6 bomb detectors were procured at excessive prices and the devices might not work.
He said the Defence Ministry will not intervene in the DSI's request for the 13 government agencies that bought the devices to look into the procurements.
Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)
"The GT200 detectors can do the job and they have already been tested," ACM Sukumpol said. "The DSI should also ask those who are using the detectors because if they don't work I want to know who would buy them."
The minister said the air force was the first to procure the GT200 detectors when he was the air force chief-of-staff. The detectors were tested in front of army commanders.
The detectors might not work 100 per cent of the time but the users were satisfied the procurement was made, he said.
"Many bombs were found using the GT200 detectors but if the findings say otherwise we'll have to see who's lying," ACM Sukumpol said.
When reporters asked him why were the detectors bought at different prices, he said there had to be a reason and the National Anti-Corruption Commission would investigate this.
"Today if we don't use the GT200 what other detectors will we use? The Defence Ministry and I continue to look for alternative devices when travelling abroad," he said.
DSI chief Tarit on Wednesday said that after receiving complaints about the acquisition of GT200 and Alpha 6 bomb detectors in 2010, the department found the products were overpriced and the bids to pick the suppliers may also have been rigged.
Mr Tarit said the his department found that officials responsible for the procurement did not set median bid prices.
The Science and Technology Ministry tested the GT200 and Alpha 6 detectors and established they were not capable of emitting any electric field, had no electrostatic charge and did not generate any electromagnetic emissions.
The test concluded the GT-200 detector wand's ability to detect explosives was no better than random chance.
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