Phuzumoya oil reserve
Templer reported t hat i t had spent E4 million on environmental assessment wor k a n d e n g i n e e r i n g a s p e c t o f t h e p r o j e c t b y t h e t i me t h e Mi n i s t r y o f Natural Resources and Energy stopped works.
At t he t i me of t he cancellation of t he contract, government had s pent over E54.89 million on the project, which is now a sorry- sight as t he l and i s now a grazing site. Later on, new designs had t o be made by a Taiwanese company s t yl ed CTCI Corporation at a cost of E14.5 million.
There were four designs produced by t he Taiwanese company.
Eac h o f t h e f o u r d e s i g n s r e p o r t e d - l y a d d r e s s e d d i f f e r e n t p h a s e s o f t h e project.
REFLECTED
Audited statements seen by the Times SUNDAY r e f l e c t e d t hat a s um of E9 175 914.90 was paid t o CTCI Corporation on March 14, 2019 for phase one of t he project, which entailed rehabilitation of DWA Laboratory ( review and update of existing preliminary designs and detailed estimates).
O n M a r c h 2 8 , 2 0 1 9 , p a y m e n t o f E432 240.62 was made f or t he s a me p r o j e c t ( r e v i e w a n d u p d a t e o f e x i s t - i ng prel i minary designs and detai l ed est i mates).
O n Ma r c h 1 4 , 2 0 1 9 , a s u m o f E 3 8 9 0 1 6 5 . 6 2 was a l s o r e l e a s e d t o t h e Taiwanese company.
Go v e r n me n t i s y e t t o c o me o u t t o disclose to the public when the facility will f i nally t ake off t he ground as i t s necessity, according to some businessmen, cannot be overemphasised.
This i s due t o t he f act t hat t he ci vi l u n r e s t , whic h c r i p p l e d t h e e c o n o my o f t h e c o u n t r y, h a s i n d e e d e x p o s e d t h e n e e d f o r t h e c o n t i n u a t i o n o f t h e construction of t he Str at egic Oil Reserve facility.
Eswatini was hard hit by a fuel shortage, which resulted i n l ong queues of vehicles t o garages, with some motori sts waking up as early as 3am t o beat t he l i ne.
On some days certain garages did not have fuel at all.
However, it must be said that government has expressed i t s political will t o continue with t he project.
Ac c o r d i n g t o t h e P o s t C OVI D- 1 9 Economic Recovery Plan tabled by the l a t e f or mer Pri me Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, a l i mited energy supply can adversely affect t he development of a country.
I f i t i s not t aken i nto consideration, i t i s said t hat i t can l i mit growth prosp e c t s o f t h e d i f f e r e n t s e c t o r s o f t h e economy.
CONSUMPTION
Energy i s said t o be a key source of economic growth as many production a n d c o n s u mpt i o n a c t i v i t i e s i n v o l v e e n e r g y a s b a s i c i n p u t , a c c o r d i n g t o t he plan.
Government is of the view that the energy sector is one of the most important inputs for economic growth.
“Since economic activity will be i ncreasing i n other sectors, a sustainable supply of energy i s necessary,” r eads t he plan.
The energy sector proposed nine projects worth E3.747 billion that were expected to provide the much needed energy security to stimulate economic growth.
These projects mainly consisted of solar plants ( varying in size), a biomass energy plant, refinery, and an oil reserve.
I n t o t a l , g o v e r n ment s a y s 7 5 0 j o b s will be cr eat ed t hr ough t hese energy projects.
I t mus t b e s a i d t h a t a g o v e r n me n t c o mp a n y s t y l e d E s w a t i n i N a t i o n a l Petroleum Company ( ENPC) has been set up, and t he Petroleum Act of 2020 p r o v i d e s t h a t i t c a n i d e n t i f y, b u i l d , own, manage crude oil and petroleum l ogistics i nvestments, i ncluding ‘ storage and handling t erminals’.
CONFIRMED
It has not been confirmed if the government company has been given t he project to undertake or it will partner with a private firm or allow the tender process to identify a new contractor.
However, i n t erms of t he build t he storage facility.
The chairman of t he Board of direct ors i s Muzi Dlamini, a businessman.
The newly- e s t a bl i s hed government company can also secure, market, trade i n crude oil and petroleum products.
Its objectives include carrying out the business of supplying and distributing petroleum and petroleum products into and from the Kingdom of Eswatini; to carry on the business of importing and e x p o r t i n g p e t r o l e u m a n d p e t r o l e u m products into and from the Kingdom of Eswatini.
I t i s a l l owed i n t e r ms of t he l a w t o carry out network surveys to determine key national development areas for the development of r et ai l s t at i ons i n key national development areas; and to issue rural area retail licences in key national development areas. l aw, i t can