international
construction
april 2104
WORLDNEWS
KENYA
The European Investment
Bank (EIB) has approved fundingworth
€
200million (US$ 275million) to
Kenya to support the Lake Turkana
Wind Power project. The
€
600million
(US$ 825million) project is the largest
singlewind farm in Sub-Saharan
Africa. Lake Turkana is expected
to generate 20% of Kenya’s power,
providing 300MW of wind power to
the national grid. The project, located
in northern Kenya, is the largest
private investment in the country and
includes 365wind turbines, each
capable of generating 850 kW.
AFGHANISTAN
The Afghanistan
Infrastructure Trust Fund (AITF) has
received a US$ 286million boost from
the governments of the UK, US and
Japan to support the development
of key roads and power plants in the
country. The AITF ismanaged by the
AsianDevelopment Bank on behalf of
the government of Afghanistan. It is
targeted at ensuring that 90% of the
population has access to regional and
national roads, and 50% of households
have access to grid electricity, by
2017.
GERMANY
Sales of Germanmade
construction equipment and building
materialsmachinery fell -6% last
year to
€
11.7 billion (US$ 16 billion),
according to the German engineering
association, VerbandDeutscher
Maschinen- und Anlagenbau.
However, the association is optimistic
on 2014, with incoming orders up
+7% compared to a year ago.
PAKISTAN
The European
Investment Bank (EIB) has approved
a long-term loan of
€
100million
(US$ 137million) to the Government
of Pakistan for the construction of
the Keyal Khwar Hydropower project.
The Keyal Khwar Hydropower project
consists of a 128MW run-of-river
hydropower plant with a small 1.5 ha
reservoir for daily regulation.
RUSSIA
Europeanmarket research
and consulting company PMR has
forecast +3% growth in the Russian
Urals construction sector for 2014
and beyond. The increasewill be
largely fuelled by state-funded civil
engineering projects, mostly for the
development of the country’s transport
and heavy industry infrastructure.
HIGHLIGHTS
PANAMA
Canal stalemate ends
Contracting consortiumGUPC and PanamaCanal
Authority reach funding agreement
W
ork to complete the PanamaCanal expansion is set to restart after
the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) and contracting consortium
GUPC signed a deal to end a stalemate over cost overruns.
Theco-financingagreement followed theprinciplesof apreliminaryaccord
reached at the end of February. It will see bothGUPC andPCA contribute
US$ 100 million each to the project, while GUPC is to arrange a further
US$400million infinancing from international lenders andproject insurer
Zurich.
A dispute arose in January when GUPC – which consists of Sacyr,
Impregilo, Jan De Nul and CUSA Urban Construction – threatened to
suspendworkunless it received a furtherUS$1.6billion in funding to cover
cost overruns.
Under thenewagreement, claims for cost overruns areplanned tocontinue
in arbitrationproceedings.
Construction of the third set of locks for the Panama Canal is 70%
complete and was originally scheduled to finish in June 2015. GUPC said
the remaining lockgateswouldnow arrive inPanama from Italy in staggered
shipments and completion of the project is planned for the end of 2015.
The PCA awarded the contract to design and build a third set of locks to
theGUPC’sUS$ 3.2 billion bid in 2009.
6
The African Development Bank
(AfDB) has levied fines totalling
US$ 17 million against KBR,
Technip and JGC for their role in
an historic corruption case on a
bank-financed project inNigeria.
The
contractors
or
their
affiliated companies were part of
the TSKJ consortium that bribed
Nigerian public officials over a
decade in order to win contracts
to build liquid natural gas (LNG)
plants onBonny Island, Nigeria.
From 1995 to 2004, the joint
venture companies made improper
payments totalling US$ 180
million in return for the contracts.
The AfDB contributed US$ 100
million to the overall project cost of
US$ 6 billion.
As part of the negotiated
resolution agreement, the AfDB’s
Integrity and Anti-Corruption
Department (IACD) fined the
contractors US$ 6.5 million
(KBR), US$ 5.3million (Technip)
andUS$ 5.2million (JGC). AfDB
said the funds would flow to
projects preventing corruption in
itsmember countries inAfrica.
In addition to the financial
penalties,
the
contractors
connected with the case have
also been barred from winning
AfDB contracts for three years.
As a result of this, they are liable
for cross-debarment by other
development banks around the
globe, including the World Bank,
under theApril 2010 agreement for
mutual enforcement of debarment
decisions.
AnnaBossman, directorof IACD,
said the settlement demonstrated
a strong commitment from the
AfDB to ensure that development
funds were used for their intended
purpose.
“At the same time, it is a
clear signal to multinational
companies that corrupt practices
in Bank-financed projects will
be aggressively investigated and
severely sanctioned,” Ms Bossman
said. “These ground-breaking
negotiated resolution agreements
substantially advance the Bank’s
anti-corruption and governance
agenda, a strategic priority of our
institution.”
NIGERIA
MoreBonny Islandfines
US
ConExpo
success
TheConExpo-Con/Agg exhibition,
held from March 4 – 8 in Las
Vegas, US attracted 129,364
visitors, according to organiser,
the Association of Equipment
Manufacturers (AEM). It said this
exceeded attendance in 2011, the
last time the show was held, and
was second in sizeonly toConExpo
2008.
Of those that attended the show,
just under a quarter were from
outside the US. The AEM said
the 31,000 international visitors
to ConExpo 2014 represented a
+9% increase on the 2011 show.
It added that 170 countries were
represented, compared to 159
in 2011, with Canada, China,
Europe and Latin America heavily
represented.
On the quality of visitors, the
AEM said 75% of those attending
ConExpo 2014 had managerial
roles, and that 36% of these
held top-level job titles, such as
president, owner, vice president,
general manager or CFO.
The show also set a new record
for exhibit space, with 2,000
companies taking more than
2.35 million ft
2
(218,000 m
2
) of
space – equivalent to about 31
football pitches. The co-located
IFPE exhibition for fluid power,
transmission and motion control
had400 exhibitors over 161,000 ft
2
(49,100m
2
).
Formoredetails, see
iC’s
reviewof
ConExpo on p. 53