X
07:09Last update on: 13 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Tue 13 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair? Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform. SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
POLL
What do you think of the renaming and addition of regions and constituencies?
Results so far:
Older Polls
BUSINESS - COMPANIES
| 2013-07-29
Halliburton to plead guilty to destroying Gulf evidence
BIG FIRE ...The spill occurred at BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico and was the worst in US history
US company Halliburton will plead guilty to destroying evidence relating to the 2010 Gulf Of Mexico oil spill. The plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, means Halliburton will have to pay the maximum possible fine.
The spill occurred at BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico and was the worst in US history. BP had accused Houston-based Halliburton, its contractor, of destroying evidence and asked it to pay for all damages. The major oil spill three years ago followed a blast at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 workers.
“A Halliburton subsidiary has agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanour violation associated with the deletion of records created after the Macondo well incident, to pay the statutory maximum fine of US$200,000 and to accept a term of three years probation,” the company said in a statement.
Halliburton is the third of three major companies at the heart of the oil spill to admit criminal wrongdoing. Oil giant BP and rig operator Transocean have already pleaded guilty to charges related to the disaster.
The US Department of Justice said that prior to the blowout at the rig, Halliburton had recommended to BP that the Macondo well contain 21 centralisers - metal collars that can improve cementing. In agreeing to plead guilty, Halliburton has accepted criminal responsibility for destroying the aforementioned evidence”
The justice department said that Halliburton had run two computer simulations of the Macondo well’s final cementing job to compare the impact of using six versus 21 centralisers.
The department said that Halliburton’s programme manager “was directed to, and did, destroy these results.”
“Efforts to forensically recover the original destroyed Displace 3D computer simulations during ensuing civil litigation and federal criminal investigation by the Deepwater Horizon Task Force were unsuccessful,” it added.
“In agreeing to plead guilty, Halliburton has accepted criminal responsibility for destroying the aforementioned evidence.”
Halliburton, along with other firms, is also facing a civil trial over the oil spill.
It is expected to be one of the biggest and costliest trials in decades and will determine the causes of the spill, and assign responsibility to the parties involved, including Halliburton, BP, Transocean, and Cameron, which manufactured the blowout preventer meant to stop oil leaks. In April, Halliburton said that it was in talks to settle claims in the trial.
However, some observers said the guilty plea by Halliburton may indicate a weakness in its position in negotiating a settlement.
“Their willingness to plead to this may also indicate that they’d like to settle up with the federal government on the civil penalties,” said Edward Sherman, a law professor at Tulane University.
“It may indicate a softening of their position.”
Halliburton has already made a voluntary contribution of US$55m (£36m) to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. For its part, BP put aside US$7,8 billion when it agreed last year to pay compensation for the oil spill. – BBC
“A Halliburton subsidiary has agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanour violation associated with the deletion of records created after the Macondo well incident, to pay the statutory maximum fine of US$200,000 and to accept a term of three years probation,” the company said in a statement.
Halliburton is the third of three major companies at the heart of the oil spill to admit criminal wrongdoing. Oil giant BP and rig operator Transocean have already pleaded guilty to charges related to the disaster.
The US Department of Justice said that prior to the blowout at the rig, Halliburton had recommended to BP that the Macondo well contain 21 centralisers - metal collars that can improve cementing. In agreeing to plead guilty, Halliburton has accepted criminal responsibility for destroying the aforementioned evidence”
The justice department said that Halliburton had run two computer simulations of the Macondo well’s final cementing job to compare the impact of using six versus 21 centralisers.
The department said that Halliburton’s programme manager “was directed to, and did, destroy these results.”
“Efforts to forensically recover the original destroyed Displace 3D computer simulations during ensuing civil litigation and federal criminal investigation by the Deepwater Horizon Task Force were unsuccessful,” it added.
“In agreeing to plead guilty, Halliburton has accepted criminal responsibility for destroying the aforementioned evidence.”
Halliburton, along with other firms, is also facing a civil trial over the oil spill.
It is expected to be one of the biggest and costliest trials in decades and will determine the causes of the spill, and assign responsibility to the parties involved, including Halliburton, BP, Transocean, and Cameron, which manufactured the blowout preventer meant to stop oil leaks. In April, Halliburton said that it was in talks to settle claims in the trial.
However, some observers said the guilty plea by Halliburton may indicate a weakness in its position in negotiating a settlement.
“Their willingness to plead to this may also indicate that they’d like to settle up with the federal government on the civil penalties,” said Edward Sherman, a law professor at Tulane University.
“It may indicate a softening of their position.”
Halliburton has already made a voluntary contribution of US$55m (£36m) to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. For its part, BP put aside US$7,8 billion when it agreed last year to pay compensation for the oil spill. – BBC
Comment on this article
www.weatherphotos.co.za
Windhoek
7°
24°
0mm
Walvis Bay
8°
22°
0mm
Oshakati
8°
31°
0mm
Keetmanshoop
1°
17°
0mm
Grootfontein
2°
27°
0mm
Gobabis
5°
24°
0mm
(August 12)
View more ...