by di-ve.com - editorial@di-ve.com
Politics -- 28 November 2009 -- 10:20CEST

The company which won the tender for Delimara Power Station equipment said that the case of bribery brought up by the Opposition Leader on Friday had been reported several years ago and had been found by the Danish police to be groundless.
During a visit to the offices of the Auditor General on Friday afternoon, Dr Muscat alleged that investigations carried out by a Danish newspaper showed that winning bidder Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor and its Japanese mother company Mitsui had already been involved in “other” bribery cases to win contracts.

The Opposition Leader alleged that the newspaper published documents showing how BWSC officials spent millions on bribes to win contracts in other countries such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bahamas, and added that the company has dismissed a number of employees to cover up the corruption.

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt asked BSWC for clarification and received an immediate reply from the company in which it advised that the police had investigated the claims made in the Danish newspaper, Børsen, and had dismissed them.

“The investigation concluded that accusations were without merit and police notified BWSC in writing that
the investigation was being dismissed. Unfortunately, it is too late today to obtain a certified translation of
the dismissal notice, which is in Danish. lf it would be helpful for you, I would be happy to forward a
certified translation of the dismissal letter on Monday,” the BSWC general counsel Michael Kunz wrote.

His letter noted the company has a very strict Code of Conduct that requires all of its employees to comply with the requirements of the OECD Convention on Combating of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials.

“The failure by an employee to comply with the spirit and the letter of such Code will result in disciplinary action, which may include the dismissal of that employee,” he said.

Meanwhile in a statment, the PL said that it is worth noting that Minister Gatt sent his letter to Sorem Barkholt, who was involved directly in cases of corruption.

Danish newspapers reported that Barkholt himself was the one who approved the granting of a commission to the chairman of an authority in the Phillippines.