Salini’s private land deal above board

SALINI Impregilo SpA’s erection of a camp worth close to N$200 million on private land near the Neckartal Dam construction site did not require any approval from government.

Eric Britton of Knight Piésold consulting engineers, which government had appointed to oversee the dam construction project, said this in a briefing of the permanent secretaries of the ministries of finance and agriculture, Ericah Shafudah and Percy Misika, as well as the acting permanent secretary of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Annely Haiphene, who were visiting the site on Wednesday.

“It was the contractor’s business to decide the location of the campsite,” he said, responding to a question from on whether the private deal Salini had struck with landowner Deodat Dirkse did not constitute a violation of the contract.

“The location of the campsite has nothing to do with us, whether it (the campsite) was erected on state or private land,” the engineer said angrily. The structures erected on the private land include staff accommodation, a mini soccer field, a tennis court, a thatched-roof dining hall and a swimming pool.

Government awarded Salini a N$2,8 billion tender to build the Neckartal Dam near Keetmanshoop.

The dam is ready to collect water, although its completion date is mid-July, Salini project manager Fabrizio Lazzarin said at Wednesday’s briefing session.

The agriculture ministry’s director of water supply and sanitation coordination, Leopoldt Niipare, said “whatever had transpired and the decisions taken then were deemed as correct by the then accounting officer and the contractor”.

However, he said the agriculture ministry has sought legal advice on buying back the piece of land in question from the landowner.

Dirkse told that in terms of the agreement with Salini, he would receive as compensation the structures built on his land by the contractor once construction activities ended and the workforce left.

“When the contractor approached me, I saw it as an opportunity and sealed the deal,” he said.

Dirkse said government had already expressed interest in buying the land and facilities from him.

“Government had already approached me, but went silent after we had started discussions,” he added.

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