The start of work was scheduled for mid-November 2012 for a duration of 34 months. But, it was propelled into 2017, with a delay of 5 years. A new end of work was planned for March 31, 2023. Unfortunately, a year later, the end is still pending. Minister Ibrahim Uwizeye, in charge of hydraulics, energy and mines, answered our questions. Interview.
Mr. Minister, what, in your opinion, are the reasons for this detrimental slowness and which will cost the Burundian taxpayer dearly?
For the Kabu 16 power plant construction project, a first amendment was negotiated and signed, following failure to meet the deadlines for carrying out the studies. The phase of work which was to begin on July 25, 2014, after 16 months of studies, began on May 2, 2017, so the 5-year grace period granted to the Burundian government expired just after the start of work on the second phase ; hence the signing of the first amendment which increased or extended the grace period from 5 years to 9 years.
During the execution of the works, the Angelique International Limited (AIL) company faced poor geological conditions for the underground works, which did not allow the proper progress of the works, before the Covid 19 pandemic come and add more.
The non-payment of the Company’s invoices since January 2023 by the Indian bank, Exim Bank, following unpaid arrears by the Burundian government, caused the cessation of work from June 2023 until the beginning of November 2023 All these reasons contributed to the delay in the work.
Were the studies initially done well so that the work started with reassuring speed?
At one point, there were studies, but AIL told us that more studies needed to be done because there was a geological problem; it took a while. In addition, this pushed us to sign the first amendment for additional fees on the initial credit.
So it was necessary to do other studies because the initial studies were not well done?
Precisely, to see the load-bearing capacity, the capacity of a soil to support a load, the morphology of the terrain, they carried out in-depth studies. These analyzes actually took time and this is part of the reasons behind the late start of the work. Otherwise, usually we do this in 5 years, but unfortunately it took a long time.
There are no unexplained delays on the part of the company Angelique International Limited?
We cannot also deny that this company has a certain responsibility in the delay in the work of the Kabu 16 project, because it manifested itself during the execution of the project, a delay in the mobilization of machines, recruitment and mobilization of personnel and sending equipment to the site.
On the one hand, we can blame this company because if we analyze the period when the Covid 19 pandemic was wreaking havoc, we received people, everything was done to isolate them. Furthermore, they told us bluntly that back home in 2019, there were no functioning factories while all the equipment to be used had to be manufactured in India.
You know very well that Covid 19 was catastrophic in India, they had to completely close. There, it was a case of force majeure, we had to wait.
It’s true, there were certainly problems, shortcomings, I can’t pinpoint exactly what caused this, but what matters for us is just to keep the machine running so that this hydroelectric plant does not will not suffer the same fate as the Mpanda dam.
Angelique International has ongoing proceedings, notably at the Labor Court, against certain employees. Isn’t this another factor in the delay?
It depends on their organization, if an employee is hired for bedrock work, or for other tasks, at any given time, if the work to be done ends, the contract stops and others are hired for d other work. As the work progresses, staff reduction becomes necessary.
But if salaries have not been paid, if contributions to the INSS have not been honored, employees have the right to file a complaint. What is unacceptable is firing someone in violation of the contract.
Was there regular monitoring of the work by a control commission, reports, visits?
The project owner’s representative regularly visits the site and holds meetings on site and by video conference with this company and the monitoring office to discuss with the representatives of these two companies located at their headquarters.
In addition to on-site meetings to encourage this Indian company to respect the work schedule, correspondence was sent to this company in order to demand the mobilization of the workforce and the necessary equipment on time.
Had it not been for the pressure from the project owner on the company Angelique International Limited, the work would not have progressed and reached the current stage.
As for the Burundian team responsible for control, its members are housed with the Indian workers, does this not expose them to influence peddling or corruption?
Absolutely, it even forced us to fire an entire team that was responsible for coordination. We had to put together a new team.
That’s not all ! There was something biased right from the start because, imagine, when we took out the credit for the construction of this dam, the Indian bank, Exim Bank, which granted it to us had its conditions: it required us to work with a local company to carry out the work, AIL. We had to accept. But, this bank also demanded that the control mission also come from them.
For me it’s incompatible but it was that way and we tried to push. When the company requests an amendment or when it delays, the control missions also comply with it, and there is an extension of the duration of the work, even though it was the Burundian government that paid control missions.
If at the outset we signed the contracts for the control missions of 3,000 dollars for all the work for 4 years and suddenly 6 more months are added for the execution of the work, we still have to give money to control missions for this additional period.
And if this deadline is exceeded, more money must be added for control missions. Initially it was $3,000 but today it’s over $7 million for the entire team. We had to look for fees to pay for these control missions from there.
Is the work progressing, what remains?
So far, the execution rate is above 94.5% because the components are already in place: the development of the power plant. And if we put aside the road leading to the dam, we are at 98% of the work execution rate.
It is planned that there will be a macadamized road from the RN5 leading towards Cibitoke and from this junction. It is a stretch of approximately 20km. The work is progressing normally, there has been a report on the problems cited above.
Everything must be done to keep the machines running. I am confident that by the beginning of May 2024 we will already have electricity from this plant. However, the construction of the road will take another year to complete the section leading to this dam. The urgency is to have electricity because we have already started paying arrears and penalties such as interest.
And the Burundians responsible for monitoring all of this?
There is a Burundian coordination team which must push the control mission team to monitor the work properly. Sometimes they spoke in their language; if the person carrying out control missions speaks in Hindi, the Burundian cannot understand anything.
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2024-03-27 07:00:09