The Pheu Thai government's ambitious but
troubled plan to hand out computer tablets to nearly a million schoolchildren
is in danger of collapsing because the Chinese suppliers are reportedly putting
off the signing of the contract, sources told The Nation yesterday.
Even if
the contract does get signed eventually and the plan goes ahead, it is now
almost certain that the government will miss its deadline by weeks, if not
months, of delivering tablets to Grade 1 students. The Yingluck Shinawatra
administration was planning to hand out tablets to 900,000 children when
schools reopen mid next month. However, this timeframe is very unrealistic now
due to a tug of war over the signing of the contract.
"If
this project had been initiated by the bureaucracy, it would have been scrapped
already," one source said. "But this is an election promise, so the
government has no choice but to muddle through it," a source said.
The
sources are blaming the Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development for the
escalating uncertainties. The Chinese supplier has reportedly backtracked on a
previously agreed two-year guarantee on its products, claiming that the battery
could not possibly last that long. There have also been other instances of
backtracking, like the firm cutting down on its post-sale service centres from
30 to just 12.
As it
will take about 90 days after the contract is signed for the first batch of
tablet PCs to be delivered, the government could miss its deadline by several
weeks. And this is assuming the contract will be signed soon.
"Bureaucrats
involved in the acquisition process are becoming doubtful," one source
said.
When
asked if it would be better for everyone if the project was just scrapped, he
replied: "In that case, the whole government will be hurt."
The
acquisition process has been plagued by problems from the very start. First the
Information and Communications Technology Ministry announced that the bidding
for the project had been completed, before denying it and then blaming the
media for misinterpreting its first round of screening as the final outcome.
The murkiness of the deal then intensified speculation about why a giant
Chinese firm, an initial favourite to win the contract, had not won the
bidding.
Then
the signing of the contract kept getting delayed. The initial explanation was
that Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development was unable to get a bank guarantee
in China. Yesterday was the first time that information emerged about how the
Chinese firm and the Thai government were locking horns over contractual
details.
"The
Chinese have been seeking to make a lot of changes," the source said.
"Some of these changes are acceptable, but others are simply not
consistent with our requirements."
According
to the source, the Chinese have been going back and forth with different
annexes, making it difficult for the Thai negotiators to catch up. At one
point, the Chinese firm sought an advance guarantee from the Thai side so as to
facilitate their quest for a bank guarantee. Then they demanded partial payment
and called for some of the production burden to be absorbed by the government.
The
sources said they had no idea how these differences would be ironed out in such
a short period of time. Plus, the Thai side is getting restless now because the
price of computer tablets is starting to swing considerably due to growing
competition and new inventions are coming out virtually on a daily basis.
Prime
Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was given a Scope tablet to try out during her
visit to China this week. It was a scene that belied the problems mounting over
the project, which critics have dubbed wasteful due to the very young age of
recipients and the short-life of technology gadgets nowadays.
Information
and Communications Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap yesterday said it
remained unclear as to when the purchase contract for 900,000 tablets would be
signed. "The attorney-general has not yet approved the contract
draft," he said. "We have to prepare all the necessary documents
before the signing can take place". Anudith expected the first lot of
tablets under the government's much-touted One Tablet Per Child project to
reach schools in July.
He said
although the contract would require the Chinese supplier to deliver all 900,000
tablets within 90 days, he believed the delivery of all tablets would be
completed within 60 days after the signing of the contract.
The
Nation/Asia News Network
Business & Investment Opportunities
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