One of Swaziland’s few independent newspapers launched a
scathing attack on a senior government civil servant after he refused to answer
questions about the controversial Sikhuphe airport.
The airport, which was due to open in June 2010, but is
still not completed, is at the centre of corruption allegations relating to
contracts and tenders.
The Times Sunday reported that it had
attempted to get Bertram Stewart. Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Economic
Planning and Development, to answer questions relating to concerns about
tenders awarded worth about E12 million (US$1.2 million), but he refused to
answer questions.
The newspaper reported (2 February 2014), ‘There was also
the issue of five fire trucks valued at about E15 million. These were bought in
South Africa in 2009, in anticipation of Sikhuphe being in operation by 2010
when South Africa hosted the World Cup. The heavy duty vehicles remained unused
for a long time, resulting in two of them developing mechanical faults.
‘We questioned all these things and more. Now we are
looking into the issue of maintaining the airport.’
The newspaper published
a report without Stewart’s comments, saying he hung up the phone on its
reporter.
It later reported, ‘He never wants to be bothered by
journalists. He has said quite a few times that he is not accountable to us. We
do not understand how that happens because we are not only journalists but
citizens of this country. We are taxpayers. If he is not accountable to us, who
is he accountable to?’
The Times Sunday
added, ‘Last Sunday, we continued with our exposes of the wrongs going on at
Sikhuphe International Airport. This First World facility is one of the
Millennium Projects that have cost over E3 billion in the last decade or so.
The budgeted amount was initially E500 million but, for various reasons, it hit
the E3billion mark.
‘We questioned all these things and more. Now we are
looking into the issue of maintaining the airport.’
The Times Sunday
editor Innocent
Maphalala told his readers, ‘I was surprised, therefore, when he
appeared on both Channel Swazi and Swazi TV to deny a story we published last
Sunday.
‘There the PS was, holding three microphones while the television reporters, who probably had not read the story themselves, watched. Yes, they were watching because they did not ask him even one question. Bertram was practically speaking to himself. It was more of a statement than an interview with the TV reporters.
‘He was “shocked” that we could even write about something regarding Sikhuphe without consulting either him or Percy Simelane [the government’s official spokesperson].
The newspaper reported that Stewart ‘featured prominently
in most deliberations involving the airport contracts’.
Stewart has not always been so silent over Sikhuphe. Swazi
Media Commentary has reported many times that he, had continually mislead the
public about Sikhuphe airport and in particular about its readiness to open.
He told
the public that it would be ready to open before the start of 2013. It was not
and it did not.
Stewart was at
it again in February 2011, when he confidently told media the airport would
be completed by June 2011. It was not. He also said a number of top world
airlines (that he declined to name) were negotiating to use Sikhuphe. Nothing
happened.
He returned
to the theme two months later in April 2011 when this time he said the
airport would be open by December 2011. But still no airport.
Media reports in Swaziland suggest the cost of Sikhuphe has
been about E3
billion so far from an initial budget of E500 million.
See also
AIRPORT TERMINAL CAN’T HANDLE TRAFFIC
KING’S AIRPORT HAS NO TAXIWAY
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/01/swazi-kings-airport-has-no-taxiway.html
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