Parliament, Permanent Secretary of Defense confirms using the same secret budget, can be investigated, expedite restructuring, transfer of doctors and nurses to become civil servants of Defense, reveals accumulated crude oil in Fang District 16 million liters Reporters reported that the Special Committee to consider the draft of the 2025 Budget Expenditure Act considered the budget for the Ministry of Defense in the amount of 200,293 million baht, which received an increased budget allocation of 5,179 million baht or 2.65 percent, with General Sanitchanok Sangkhachan, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, confirming that the use of the secret budget is the same every year, with no request for an increase, and must go through the Office of the Auditor General because the criteria for examining the use of funds have been used since 2021. The reduction of personnel is a policy of the Ministry of Defense. It will cover schools that produce soldiers, which must be reduced in order and replaced with te chnology. Regarding the reduction of personnel by 5 percent for generals with special qualifications, it must be reduced by 50 percent, which has been explained before. It is in the plan to adjust the structure of the army for 2018-2028, which must be reduced by half. Everything is proceeding according to the plan, with adjustments made every year. After 2028, it will go into a white paper to be implemented further overall. As for early retirement, it is set for 3 years at 200 million baht per year, which the Cabinet has already approved. It is a project to reduce personnel because when early retirement is made, the unimportant positions or permanent positions will be closed. The 200 million baht is in the army's own personnel budget. The part of adjusting military officers to be civil servants of the defense, from doctors, nurses, accountants, pharmacists, etc., will be separated to reduce military officers. There will be 2 methods of operation: new recruitment by the Office of the Permanent Secretary of D efense, which has just recruited 8 people, which will take time because it has to adjust the new structure to have civil servants of the defense, such as military hospitals will have to create a separate structure to be civil servants of the defense for doctors and nurses. As for recruitment, to speed up, they can be transferred from military to civil servants of the defense when the structure is complete. If only accepting new replacements, it will take a long time, so it will be done as quickly as possible. Gen. Sanitchanok also explained about the centralized procurement of weapons and equipment that the Minister of Defense has already appointed a working group to study this issue. It is considered a strategy of the Ministry of Defense. Expensive weapons cannot be produced or parts can be obtained domestically. It is a strategic threat. The threat to the combat power of neighboring countries and the possibility of war will be taken into account to set the strategy. If successful, the budget proportion wil l not depend on the number of troops, but will depend on the strategy determined through the committee of the Ministry of Defense to indicate what weapons and equipment will be purchased in the next 3-5 years. The Fang oil well has been in operation for 70 years and is estimated to contain 50 million barrels of oil underground. However, in the past 70 years, only 16 million barrels have been extracted. Currently, 16 million liters of crude oil is stored, most of which is diesel. The standard is not comparable to private companies, and it is used in military vehicles and sold to support the Royal Thai Army in the northern region. As for the 600 million baht subsidy, 90 percent is for wages and salaries, and there are employees. If it is early, all of this money must be used, so it is necessary to have it supplemented. The principle is that employees must have subsidies. The central research and development committee, the transfer of military business, many people have seen it, it is not hidden. Source: Tha i News Agency
Sunday, September 08, 2024