Water Board warns full tenders’ procedure will mean lengthy delays
THE opposition yesterday welcomed President Demetris Christofias’ decision to veto a Cabinet plan to bypass full procedure to fast-track plans for a new desalination plant in Limassol, saying the move would have given preferential treatment to certain companies.
But the Water Board warned a fully-fledged tenders procedure would now severely delay a desperately needed project, adding the law did allow fast-track procedures in cases of national emergency.
In the case of the floating desalination unit planned off the coast of Limassol, President Christofias intervened to cancel the recent Cabinet decision that would have allowed the project to finish fast, at the potential cost of transparency and accountability.
“I cannot cover any mistakes or omissions that may have been made, and the Minister of Agriculture should not tolerate this either,” Christofias was quoted as saying in Politis.
The Cabinet decision was approved on December 30, 2008, following the proposal of the Agriculture Minister Michalis Polynikis, who asked that a contractor for the desalination plant at Yermasoyia be selected directly, instead of through time-consuming processes provided by law.
In essence, the contract would be given to a company that could guarantee the project’s completion within four months. The move was heavily criticised by opposition parties as corrupt, as it would favour certain companies already in communication with the Ministry and the Water Board.
DISY yesterday expressed its satisfaction at the President’s intervention. “It was correct and we salute it. It is obvious that if this previous decision was put in motion certain companies would have been given preferential treatment, as they were already in contact with the relevant officials and had bought the necessary equipment,” DISY MP Christos Pourgourides said yesterday.
“These companies could provide water within four months because only they knew of these procedures and had purchased the equipment; everyone else would be excluded because they would need more time. This was clearly an effort in favour of some,” the DISY deputy added.
Ocean Tankers was one of the three companies shortlisted after direct negotiations with the Water Board to undertake the project, which will be located on the site of the underwater and coastal infrastructure built for the transport of Greek water to the shore. The company already holds the contract to ship emergency water supplies from Greece, and built the infrastructure for that project.
DISY lays the blame on the Minister of Agriculture. “The proposal went to the Council of Ministers with the signature of the Minister of Agriculture. His officials also pushed the process forward, but it was he who signed it. They should come out and give explanations,” Pourgourides said.
AKEL, however, insists that it is the civil servants who are to blame, and not the Minister. “It is the technocrats who are the experts in these matters. There can be no doubt cast on the person of the Minister, who was definitely not to blame. However, there are questions on why there was so much delay,” said AKEL MP Yiannakis Thoma.
As for officials, they yesterday claimed that they were not officially informed of the President’s intervention and the new Cabinet decision that cancelled out the previous one.
“We have not been informed of this decision. We only heard about it after reading the article in the newspaper,” said Kyriakos Kyrou, Senior Water Board Officer.
Kyrou also challenged the argument that the previous decision would allow the contracting to be made in ways that did not follow legal procedure.
“The law provides for the possibility of a variety of procedures for contracting. There may be an open bidding process, or a direct negotiation. There are also provisions for when there is a state of emergency,” Kyrou told the Cyprus Mail.
The Water Board warned the procedure now beginning for the construction of the floating desalination unit would take a long time, pointing to the delays in starting the Episkopi desalination plant as an indication of how long such a procedure could take to complete.
“They are complicated and time-consuming procedures. Many projects are delayed because of this,” Kyrou said.
In the meantime, efforts are underway to increase production from existing desalination plants, many of which have already been upgraded. “This year, we increased the daily production of desalination units by 50,000m³, as we now produce 140,000 m³ per day. In two-three months, that amount will rise to 150,000 m³, compared to 90,000 m³ last year,” said Kyrou.
