The Honduran business sector has rang alarm bells at what they believe is a lack of transparency and favoritism by the local authorities to a Brazilian company over the building of two power plants, a 600 million dollars venture.
As reported by ElTiempo.hn, senior leaders believe there is an “apparent fix" of the direct award by the National Electricity Company (ENEE), Roberto Martinez Lozano, to the Brazilian company Norberto Odebrecht for the construction of the two hydroelectric dams in Llanitos and Jicatuyo, near the confluence of the Ulua River. This agreement has not been officially denied by the minister.
The president of the Honduran Chamber of Construction Industry (CHICO), Alejandro Alvarez, brushed aside the question of whether the government has settled the contract officially, but said his organization has always urged that everything be done with transparency and with respect to the public bidding process. Alvarez, also vice president of the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP), said that "the position of the Chamber is that all projects should be awarded by public or private tender so as to allow national firms to participate individually or in consortia if there are not in a position to do the work individually", the newspaper quoted on its website.
Source: Tiempo.hn
More on this topic
August 2011
The construction project for the Jicatuyo and Los Llanitos dams still needs $150 million in funding.
The project has already raised $100 million from the Brazilian National Bank, $200 million from Banco Centroamericano de Inversión, $20 million of the Brazillian company Odebrecht (who will carry out the works) and $100 million from Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica, ENEE.
May 2011
The funding of $300 million for the construction of the Patuca III hydroelectric project has been approved by the bank Eximbank.
Financial Secretary, William Chong Wong said that negotiations of both the technical and political details with China have reached the final phase, which has led to the approval of funding by the bank.
May 2010
The government of Taiwan delivered the required technical and engineering studies for building the hydroelectric power plant Patuca III.
Roberto Martín, Lozano, head of the National Energy Corporation (ENEE), explained that they are devising the project’s financial model: “for this the Government has some resources, we could maybe enter a public-private alliance”, he said.
April 2011
The first phase of the Hydro Power Plant is picking up steam after the signing of an agreement between Honduras and China.
After three months of negotiations, the governments of both countries agreed the construction of the first phase of the hydro plant, located 220km east of the capital city Tegucigalpa.
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