Whistleblower calls for inquiry into Ashton Asoke permit scandal
Srisuwan Janya, a prominent whistleblower, recently addressed a letter to the governor of Bangkok, seeking a comprehensive inquiry into the officials of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) who were entangled in the sanctioning of permits for the troubled Ashton Asoke condominium project.
In his detailed communication, he shed light upon the issuance of four permits by the BMA in the period of 2015 to 2017. The core issue here is the recent ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court that annulled Ashton Asoke’s construction permit for failing to have a wide enough connection to a thoroughfare road. Srisuwan has firmly avowed that all BMA personnel engaged in the permit issuance should experience the due legal repercussions of this affair.
The trouble stemmed from the setup of Ashton Asoke, whose main portal is linked to Asoke Road. Interestingly, a piece of this entrance is under the ownership of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA), used to establish access to an underground train station directly adjacent to the project site. That made the entrance legally too narrow, especially for emergency situations, causing the court to invalidate the project’s permit, a decision made a week ago.
Adding more details, Srisuwan speculated on a possible course by the Ashton Asoke condo developer, Ananda Development Plc. There is a proposed alteration to the existing criteria and corresponding laws via the BMA’s Public Works Bureau and the Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning of the Interior Ministry that would sidestep the issue that caused the permit revocation. But Srisuwan says this is an overreach of power and shows bias for private business.
“Such a move contravenes the limit of authority utilization and primarily favours the operations of a private enterprise.”
He went on to warn that he is prepared to submit additional reports to the National Anti-Corruption Commission or the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases if the developer decided to carry forth this questionable endeavour.
In a parallel development, Pisut Rakwongthe, a lawyer defending the tenants of the condominium, gave an ultimatum to the Ashton Asoke condo developers. It called for an action to address his clients’ grievances to be taken within a week, failing which a criminal lawsuit will be instigated to seek recompense arising from the developer’s negligence and the damage it is causing to the tenants.
