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Gozo bridge | Chinese company blacklisted by World Bank
Chinese construction company preparing Gozo bridge feasibility study blacklisted by World Bank following fraud probe.
17 June 2013, 12:00am
James Debono
James Debono
2 min read
The Jiangsu Sutong Yangtze River Highway Bridge designed and constructed by China Communications Construction Company Limited in China.
China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), the company that approached the Maltese government to conduct a study on the feasibility of a bridge between Malta and Gozo, has been barred from receiving financing by the World Bank till 2017 following a probe on fraud in road tenders in the Philippines.
Last week, the Maltese government signed a memorandum of understanding with China Communications Construction Company Limited to conduct a detailed feasibility study on the possibility of a bridge connecting Malta and Gozo.
The feasibility study will cost €4 million but it will be paid for by the company itself. According to the Prime Minister the government is not obliged to choose this company if government decided to construct a bridge.
The World Bank announced the debarment of the company and all its subsidiaries on its website in 2011.
The reason given by the World Bank for debarring the company were fraudulent practices under Phase 1 of the Philippines National Roads Improvement and Management Project.
In 2009 the 8-year ban was applied to China Road and Bridge Corporation. But in 2011 the World Bank announced that the debarment applied to CCCC, described as the "designated successor entity to China Road and Bridge Corporation."
Under the sanction, CCCC is ineligible to engage in any road and bridge projects financed by the World Bank Group until January 12, 2017.
CCCC is the designated successor entity to China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), which was debarred by the World Bank for eight years, beginning January 12, 2009.
Despite the ban the company was controversially contracted to construct the four-lane 51.4 kilometre Kampala-Entebbe Express Highway in Uganda funded with money from the Exim Bank of China.
In opposition, the Labour Party had criticized the Nationalist government for commissioning German-owned Lahmeyer International as an energy consultant after being blacklisted by the World Bank until 2013 after it was found guilty of corruption.
Lahmeyer had presented an 'Emission Assessment of Diesel Generator Units and Combined Cycle Gas Turbines - Comparison' report requested by Enemalta, which analyzed the level of emissions attached to each bidder's proposals for the extension. Unlike CCCC, which will be providing its services for free, Lahmeyer was paid for its services.
China Communications is 70-percent owned by the China Communications Construction Group. The group, controlled by the central government's State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, was created Oct. 8, 2006, with the merger of state-owned China Harbour Engineering Co. and China Road and Bridge Corporation.
James Debono is MaltaToday's chief reporter on environment, planning and land use issues, ...
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And then these labourites (well are they so called?) don't want to accept the fact when people say that we are going back to the 70/80s, with all these Chinese interventions.....no wonder....I wish to bet with anyone that even the tender for the new power station (invented by the Labour government) will be won by the Chinese company who was shortlisted....anyone wants to bet???
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@ Magrius. There's two things in the world that smell of fish, and all men can guess the second one!
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One thing being overlooked, at present, is how much land is required either side of a proposed bridge. Looking at the attached picture gives a rough idea. How much land in Gozo can be dedicated to a project of this magnitude?
Joseph MELI •
Makes one wonder who does the feasibility study-or any background checks- on prospective candidates for potential future contractors before dealing with them?
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Bdaqshekk ma kien sa jintilef xejn, ftakru li dawn kienu ser jaghmlu feasibility study b'Xejn..No Yellow Pages,No 4 millions commissions.
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"The feasibility study will cost €4 million but it will be paid for by the company itself. According to the Prime Minister the government is not obliged to choose this company if government decided to construct a bridge" ........ good enough for me what one has to consider that there is already a feasability study carried in the 70's under Mintoff by the chinese. The cost was m12 million then to build the bridge. Mintoff decided not too as Malta could not afford to do it. So the chinese already have something to work with and I do not believe that in 40 years the geology change any or there was some continental shift that would have rendered such study null.
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@Steve M. Engerer: well one thing is certain. You did not sponsor the Labour Party campaign for sure. It was sponsored by every single Maltese person of good will and there was no need for the Chinese to do so. On the other hand, the way you branded such a sponsorship shows that you are well acquainted with the way your GONZIPN was sponsored with the tens of thousands coming out of politician's pockets as a cover up. Can I remind you of BWSC and Zaren Vassallo's companies for a start?
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@Steve M. Engerer
Well the PL's accounts are published, can't say that for the other one.
Adrian Busuttil •
There's two things in this world that smell of fish, and one of them is fish.
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One wonders why they will finance the feasibilty study for the Maltese Government.
Did they sponsor the Labour Party campaign aswell??
