Neckartal bidding process put on hold

THE Tender Board on Friday dealt another blow to the controversial Neckartal Dam project after it decided to postpone the awarding of the contested tender for another week and a half.

The tension was said to have been high at what was expected to be a watershed meeting attended by nearly all ministries’ permanent secretaries.The Namibian understands that fingers were being pointed, while some PSes were accused of misleading others at the marathon meeting which took place for almost the whole day.Tender Board chairperson and Finance PS Erica Shafudah told The Namibian that the Board decided to postpone the awarding of the tender to January 20, to allow it to conduct its own investigation and evaluation of the bids.The move is most likely to be frowned upon by Karas Governor Bernadus Swartbooi, who feels the move will stall the much-needed development in his region. The project, the biggest of its kind ever in the country, is set to spark major economic growth for one of the country’s most impoverished regions.The Tender Board was expected to clear up confusion about two conflicting decisions made by the board on December 16 and 21. The December 16 meeting is said to have given the dam contract to a Chinese company, China Henan International Corporation, for N$1,9 billion, but that was apparently overturned by another meeting held on December 21.At the extraordinary meeting on December 21, a handful of permanent secretaries and many alternate members allegedly overturned the December 16 decision and awarded the contract to an Italian company, Impregilo, at a cost of N$2,8 billion.Ministry of Safety and Security Permanent Secretary Samuel /Goagoseb, who chaired both meetings, said no decision was taken at the December 16 meeting and the valid decision was made on December 21. This claim is disputed by some of his colleagues who attended the December 16 meeting.Friday’s emergency meeting was called with specific instructions that only the board’s substantive members (permanent secretaries of government ministries and agencies) should attend.