ID :
10945
Fri, 06/27/2008 - 14:55
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http://m.oananews.org//node/10945
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Commerce Minister under fire
BANGKOK, June 27 (TNA) – Thailand's Commerce and Deputy Prime Minister
Mingkwan Saengsuwan was heavily criticised by the opposition Democrat
Party in the third day of the parliamentary censure debate Thursday, but struck out at those who criticised his failure to solve Thailand's rice and fertiliser pricing challenges.
Mr. Mingkwan announced in the Lower House Thursday that he is willing to forfeit his ministerial portfolio if his policy fails.
"I'll resign if the rice price doesn't fetch 30,000 baht (US$909) per
tonne as targeted," the embattled commerce minister said.
Democrat MP Trairong Suwannakhiri took the stage to blame Mr. Mingkwan for causing confusion among farmers in his attempted intervention in rice prices.
Mr. Trairong said that while the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Thailand rushed to cope with rising inflation, the commerce minister had attempted to solve the problem of the poor prices realised by the nation's rice farmers by intervening in the market mechanism.
The minister-initiated scheme to bring packed rice for sale at discount prices in department stores and his repeated projections for the upward trend of rice prices had made farmers feel confused and affected market prices.
"The distribution of rice at discount prices in the market has satisfied a handful of people, but it made foreign clients slow their purchase orders because they misinterpreted that the Thai government had a substantial stock of rice and was trying to keep the rice price lower.
"When rice millers received few purchase orders, they refused to buy rice from some farmers. It resulted in a sharp drop in the rice prices," he said.
"Additionally, his warning for farmers to slow selling their rice because its price would reach 30,000 baht per tonne quickly made some millers reluctant to sell rice to exporters.
It caused damage because the exporters missed overseas sales."
The opposition lawmaker warned the minister of the chaos to be seen at the end of this year if he failed to sell out 2.1 million tonnes of rice in stock.
He said existing government warehouses are insufficient to store the huge amount of rice to be harvested in this second crop season.
Unless the government rushes to sell out the rice in stock, it would
definitely lead to chaos later this year, he said.
Mr. Trairong also attributed the sharp rise in fertiliser prices to the minister's mismanagement and ignorance of how to deal with the problem.
Commerce Minister Mingkwan had never come to supervise and control
fertiliser prices in a definite and effective way, he said.
However, Mr. Mingkwan refuted all the accusations levelled against him, saying all that economic policies have been implemented in honest manner in an attempt to help alleviate hardships for both consumers and farmers.
Mingkwan Saengsuwan was heavily criticised by the opposition Democrat
Party in the third day of the parliamentary censure debate Thursday, but struck out at those who criticised his failure to solve Thailand's rice and fertiliser pricing challenges.
Mr. Mingkwan announced in the Lower House Thursday that he is willing to forfeit his ministerial portfolio if his policy fails.
"I'll resign if the rice price doesn't fetch 30,000 baht (US$909) per
tonne as targeted," the embattled commerce minister said.
Democrat MP Trairong Suwannakhiri took the stage to blame Mr. Mingkwan for causing confusion among farmers in his attempted intervention in rice prices.
Mr. Trairong said that while the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Thailand rushed to cope with rising inflation, the commerce minister had attempted to solve the problem of the poor prices realised by the nation's rice farmers by intervening in the market mechanism.
The minister-initiated scheme to bring packed rice for sale at discount prices in department stores and his repeated projections for the upward trend of rice prices had made farmers feel confused and affected market prices.
"The distribution of rice at discount prices in the market has satisfied a handful of people, but it made foreign clients slow their purchase orders because they misinterpreted that the Thai government had a substantial stock of rice and was trying to keep the rice price lower.
"When rice millers received few purchase orders, they refused to buy rice from some farmers. It resulted in a sharp drop in the rice prices," he said.
"Additionally, his warning for farmers to slow selling their rice because its price would reach 30,000 baht per tonne quickly made some millers reluctant to sell rice to exporters.
It caused damage because the exporters missed overseas sales."
The opposition lawmaker warned the minister of the chaos to be seen at the end of this year if he failed to sell out 2.1 million tonnes of rice in stock.
He said existing government warehouses are insufficient to store the huge amount of rice to be harvested in this second crop season.
Unless the government rushes to sell out the rice in stock, it would
definitely lead to chaos later this year, he said.
Mr. Trairong also attributed the sharp rise in fertiliser prices to the minister's mismanagement and ignorance of how to deal with the problem.
Commerce Minister Mingkwan had never come to supervise and control
fertiliser prices in a definite and effective way, he said.
However, Mr. Mingkwan refuted all the accusations levelled against him, saying all that economic policies have been implemented in honest manner in an attempt to help alleviate hardships for both consumers and farmers.
