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KANTEY AND TEMPLER IS A CREDIBLE COMPANY - MINISTER

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LOBAMBA – Minister of Finance Martin Dlamini said Kantey and Templer Proprietary Limited (Swaziland) is a credible company.


This is the company that will carry out the construction of the E900 million oil reserve facility whose capacity is 80 million litres, which is enough to last a period of 90 days.


Senator Prince Kekela asked what guarantee government had that the company will not pull out of the project like AT & V, which had originally been contracted to do the job but cancelled the contract without any explanation. The senator raised a concern that if the Minister of Natural Resources and Energy did not know why AT & V had cancelled the contract, what would happen if the current company did the same thing.
Dlamini explained that Kantey and Templer is a credible company carrying out projects in a number of countries.


“They are constructing buildings in South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. It is a big company in South Africa,” said the minister.
He said the agreement with Kantey and Templer was that they will be paid after they have completed the project and government was satisfied that it functions satisfactorily. The minister said the company was chosen because government wanted one that would not only construct the facility but also operate it.


Government made an agreement to pay the company over a period of two years. Dlamini said there was also the option to pay in five years but at an interest of 8.25 per cent.


He said fuel companies are expected to have their tanks in the premises of the oil reserve. The minister said the facility in Matsapha poses a danger to nearby buildings and the people. He stated that the facility to be constructed at Phuzumoya was for the fuel companies to source fuel from it.
Attorney General (AG) Majahenkhaba Dlamini clarified that if Kantey and Templer uses its own money for the project, government would have to provide surety for payment and such would come from the consolidated fund. The AG said if the fund is depleted, then government assets can be attached.


Explained


He further explained that when the American company, AT & V cancelled its contract with government, they were within the period in which they could withdraw.


Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Jabulile Mashwama said no country can function without petrol.
The minister was speaking at Senate where senators endorsed the Strategic Oil Reserve Facility Project Guarantee Bill No.22 of 2014. Another Bill that was endorsed by the senators is the Swazi Bank Loan Guarantee (Electricity Systems Strengthening Projects) Bill No. 21 2014. Both Bills were piloted by the Minister of Finance, Martin Dlamini.


Minister Mashwama said the oil reserve project was decided upon as far back as around 2005.
“Petrol is one of the things that a country cannot function without. There has been a shortage of fuel recently. The project is at the heart of the nation,” she said.


Mashwama said the project will provide employment opportunities to a number of people and Phuzumoya will no longer be the same.
Meanwhile, Speaker in the House of Assembly Themba Msibi yesterday passed condolences to the families of the victims of the kombi that was swept away by a strong current at Tsawela on Monday.
So far 13 bodies of the people who are believed to be passengers of the kombi have been retrieved from the river.
Msibi said the accident is spine-chilling. “We are with the families and friends of those who have been affected by the accident,” he said.
Msibi also took time out to wish MPs a safe Incwala Ceremony and a Merry Christmas. Parliament is in recess as of yesterday until its official opening in February.

Comments (1 posted):

Tim on 20/12/2014 08:12:58
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The company that was awarded the strategic reserves project - Kantey and Templer Proprietary Limited (Swaziland) - is a credible EPCM company that deserves the project. Digging into files, there are new in the project. The Swazi partners invested a lot of resources way back promoting the project and work with the MNRE in how this ideal (which has been around since 2000s could be achieved. The project was hijacked by AT & V who used their influence to conduct the project. They, however, had a lot of conditions that would have assured them windfall profits and resulted in petrol rise well beyond what is reasonable. What AT & V wanted to contract on was different from the project Natural resources wanted to do. The AT & V pushed too much questionable practices and sought to abuse the name of the King in getting the project - with clauses that only benefited the company.

Thus we say congratulation to Nxumalo, Mpilo, et al - your efforts have not been in vain. It is now a know fact that that the local partners of AT & V were trying to block the project. They had been awarded the project but did not communicate the real facts to AT & V principal company when putting the consortium together. They were after a get rich overnight outcome, whereas AT & V (USA) directors are reputable and this was a small contract versus the negative publicity that would come with signing. So their lawyer pulled out.

It is a good lesson for the opportunistic businessman (who are well known) who want to stifle initiatives by other Swazi so that everything that comes to the Kingdom is through them. Most of the time, in the end their initiatives fail as was the case with AT & V because they are driven by greed and not entrepreneurial spirit.

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