Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has told the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to speed up and finalise the review of two bidders for the Red Line electric railway contract.
Soithip Trisuddhi, transport deputy permanent secretary, said the premier's concerns involve the delay in the signing of the third contract of the Bang Sue-Rangsit section, which is part of the Red Line project.
The third contract involves electricity and signalling system work of the Bang Sue-Rangsit section and the procurement of trains for the entire project worth 28.9 billion baht.
According to Ms Soithip, two bidders - MHSC Consortium and SMCK Consortium - have been found to have the same committee members, raising concerns about possible conflicts of interest and price collusion.
The project has been stalled pending a review of the qualifications of the two consortia.
She said the delay, if prolonged, will affect the operations of the Bang Sue-Taling Chan section of the Red Line. The procurement of trains for the Bang Sue-Taling Chan section is covered by this contract.
Ms Soithip said SRT deputy governor Pakorn Tangjatsakow, who is in charge of the scheme, will address the issue before the board which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday.
She added that the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the project creditor, confirmed that the practice of two bidders having the same committee members is not against Japanese law.
"So if the SRT finds there's nothing illegal it should proceed. If there's something amiss a new bid must be called," she said.
Mr Pakorn said yesterday the two consortia have been summoned to clarify the committee member issue.
He said the agency is reviewing the details and it is too early to tell when the review will be finalised.
Besides MHSC Consortium and SMCK Consortium, MIR Consortium and Samsung Consortium also tendered bids for the third contract.