Recent civil unrest exposes need for
mfanukhona@ times. co. sz BABANE – “The strategic oil reserve facility i s urgently needed – i t ’s needed now,” exclaimed a frust rated motorist waiting for his t urn t o fill up petrol at Galp i n Mbabane.
Bheki Mthupha does not unders t a n d why i t h a s t a k e n g o v e r n - ment so l ong t o have t his facility.
H e s a y s c o u n t r i e s l i k e S o u t h A f r i c a a n d Mo z a m b i q u e h a v e massive s t or a ge r e s e r ves which c a n k e e p t h e i r c o u n t r i e s g o i n g i n t i mes of great need and crisis.
I n Eswatini, Mthupha s a ys t he c i v i l u n r e s t w h i c h r e s u l t e d i n serious shortage of f uel exposed t he need f or t he c onst r uct i on of t he Strategic Oil Reserve facility at Phuzumoya.
“T h e f i r s t t i me I h e a r d a b o u t plans t o construct t he facility was i n 2013. You can’t t ell me t hat we still don’t have i t i n t he country,” Mthupha says.
One of t he busi ness men i n t he country who preferred t o address t h e i s s u e o n c o n d i t i o n o f a n o - nymity said the local fuel garages s h o u l d b e a l l o we d t o p u r c h a s e f u e l f r o m t h e S t r a t e g i c Oi l Reserve facility, which he said could play a crucial r ole i n preserving t he economy.
“The f acility can work i f i t can forge a working relationship with t he l ocal fuel garages,” he said.
“Definitely, we need i t . ”
MI NITIATIVE
Andrew l e Roux, t he President o f B u s i n e s s E s wa t i n i , s a i d t h e events of t he past t wo weeks had c l e a r l y s h o w n t h a t “E s w a t i n i n e e d s a c o n t i n g e n c y p l a n ” f o r t h e s t o r a g e a n d t r a n s p o r t i n g o f fuel. Ideally, he said this initiative s h o u l d b e d r i v e n b y t h e p r i v a t e sector.
“… a nd s hould i ncl ude opti ons of our dependence on South Africa,” he appealed.
Le Roux said t he National Strat egic Fuel Reserve i s a l ong- t erm s ol ut i on but wil l need s ol ut i ons before t hen.
“It should also be seriously considered t o deregulate t he sale and pricing of diesel,” he said.
Without r e s e r v e s , e x p e r t s s a y, t he economy i s doomed as t ransport will be affected yet success of a business i s l i nked t o efficient t ransportation.
“If t here i s no fuel, i t means t he p o l i c e c a n ’ t r e s p o n d t o s c e n e s o f c r i me , t e a c h e r s c a n ’ t g e t t o school, workers can’t get to work, trucks can’t bring food to shops and everything can come to a standstill. That i s why many c o u n t r i e s h a v e f u e l r e s e r v e s s t o r a g e t a n k s , ” t h e businessman said.
He said t he civil unrest made him wake up a t 4am t o j oi n t he queue as t hey scrambled for fuel.
S e v e n y e a r s a g o , H i s Ma j e s t y King Mswati III officially launched t h e St r a t e g i c Oil Reser v e Pr o j e c t i n P h u z u moya n e a r S i p h o f a n e n i . American Tank & Vessel ( AT& V), in partnership with government and Kuwait, was engaged t o undertake wha t c o u l d h a v e b e e n o n e o f t h e massive projects accomplished by t he country.
The c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e f a c i l i t y was projected t o t ake t wo years at a cost of around E900 million, creating 300 j obs i n t he process. That would have seen the King officially opening t he facility i n 2015/ 2016.
Upon project completion, the tanks were to carry 90 million litres of fuel, which were to last for three months. The f acili t y was t o be designed t o store 42 million l i t res of diesel and 38 million l i t res of petrol.
The p r o j e c t i s n o w e s t i mated t o cost E3.2 billion. The new estimate d c o s t i s r e f l e c t e d i n t h e b u d g e t esti mates f or t he current f i nancial year, 2021/ 2022.
GRATITUDE
Speaking duri ng t he s od- c ut t i ng ceremony in 2013, His Majesty the King expressed gratitude to American Tank & Vessel for bringing a project of t his magnitude i nto t he country. He said the project was geared into transforming human lives.
“The project that I bring to you today is one that is geared into transforming lives by taking the entire region into higher heights. Our coming here today is to present this big project to the entire region knowing quite clearly and understanding that this is your livelihood and your betterment,” he said. T h e Ki n g s a i d t h e p r o j e c t c o u l d not have come at a better t i me because, i n t he past years, t he count r y d i d n o t h a v e f u e l r e s e r v e s t h a t c o u l d s u s t a i n i t f o r mon t h s . “When I opened Parliament this year ( 2013), I did make mention that time had come for the Kingdom of Eswatini to have strategic petroleum reserves where in times of dire need the nat i on could t ap i nto t hose r eserves. “Today, it gives me great pleasure to be here to see the starting up of the project that I had mentioned earlier on. This is a project that I entirely believe will develop the entire Kingdom,” he said. The King s t at ed t hat he had noted that in other countries, the petroleum industry played a huge role in boosting the economy and changing people’s lives.
H e s a i d c o u n t r i e s , w h i c h f o - c u s e d o n t h e p e t r o l e u m i n d u s t r y, were a dvanced a nd well a head of o t h e r s i n t e r ms o f d e v e l o p me n t . Ideally, government’s main reason for engaging the contractor to build the Strategic Oil Reserve facility was to ensure continuity and cover for the country in times of fuel crisis.
CAPACIT Y
T h e p l a n a t t h a t t i m e w a s t h a t tanks with a capacity to hold 90 000 litres of fuel could keep the country running for t hree months whenever t here was a crisis.
AT& V, i n a statement released on October 16, 2013, said it was proud of i t s t r ack r ecord i n Sub- Saharan Africa where i t had built bulk storage t anks and t erminals i n Equatorial Guinea, t hroughout Ghana and Angola i n t he past 20 years.
“Each pr oj ect was completed on t i me and within budget,” said W. T. Cutts, Vice President and Director of American Tank & Vessel.
“We are excited about t he opport unity t his i nvestment will bring t o S waz i l a n d ( Es wat i n i ) a n d i t a l s o serves as a l aunching point for our c o mp a n y i n t h e S o u t h e r n Af r i c a region.”
A company t o be known as Supp l y S e r v i c e s o f S wa z i l a n d ( S 3 ) , a p u b l i c - p r i v a t e i n i t i a t i v e , w a s c r e a t e d t o o p e r a t e t h e s t r a t e g i c petroleum reserve and manage fuel s u p p l y a g r e e ment s wi t h mul t i p l e contractors.
That was t o e ns ur e e nergy pendence for emaSwati.
S3 was established t o provide t he vision, t he expertise, and t he cont a c t s i n bot h Eswatini a nd United States of America.
I t w a s c r e a t e d t o m a n a g e t h i s p r o j e c t f o r a p e r i o d o f 2 0 y e a r s , a t which poi nt , i t wil l t r a ns f e r i t s r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s t o t h e S waz i l a n d ( Eswatini) National Oil Company. S3’ s founder was t he l ate businessman, Mickey Figueiredo.
AT& V’s contract with government wa s l a t e r c a n c e l l e d u n d e r u n e x - plained circumstances.
In 2014, Kantey & Templer Swaz i l a n d ( P t y ) Lt d was e n g a g e d b y government of Eswatini t o t ake t he b a t o n a n d move f o r ward wit h t h e project.
However, i t c o u l d n o t c o mpl e t e t h e p r o j e c t b e c a u s e g o v e r n me n t r eportedly t erminated t he contract i t h a d wi t h Kant e y & Te mpl e r i n October 2017.
TERMINATION
i nde
‘‘ If there is no fuel, it means the police can’t respond to scenes of crime, teachers can’t get to school, workers can’t get to work, trucks can’t bring food to shops and everything can come to a standstill.”
Th e t e r mi n a t i o n o f t h e c o n t r a c t i s s a i d t o h a v e b e e n e f f e c t e d s i x months after government had issued a l e t t e r t h a t would h a v e h e l p e d i t ( Kantey) access l oans f or t he construction of t he facility.
It must be said t hat t he directors, t hrough correspondences with government, complained t hat t he l etter w a s p e n n e d t h r e e y e a r s a f t e r i t had been engaged t o undertake t he project.
Kantey & Templer ( Pty) Ltd had s i gned a BOOT a gr e e ment ( Build Own Ope r a t e a n d Tr a n s f e r ) wi t h government.
I n y a t s i Co n s t r u c t i o n d e man d e d payment of E6.1 million from Kant e y & Te mpl e r f o r wor k s d o n e a t Phuzumoya.
O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , K a n t e y &