Opposition MP Fitz Bramble is expressing concern that the agreement the government signed with Taiwan for a US$125 million loan for a new hospital at ARnos Vale does not bind the government to use the money for the purpose it was borrowed.
On Thursday, Parliament approved the borrowing of the loan with bipartisan support even as the opposition expressed concerns about how the government had arrived at the stage where it decided to take the loan.
Initially, the government had secured a loan of US$98 million from the World Bank for the hospital.
However, following the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1, the government obtained World Bank approval to redirect that US$98 million to the recovery efforts.
The government then borrowed US$125 million from the Ex-Im Bank of Taiwan to build the hospital.
But Bramble, who is MP for East Kingstown, pointed out a significant difference between oversight of loans from the World Bank and Taiwan.
“We all know that the World Bank has very strict and very stringent regulations and requirements when you borrow money from them, primarily to make sure that the borrower is accountable to the people, to the country on whose behalf they are borrowing,” Bramble said on Hot 97 on Tuesday.
“Article, 2.01, subsection C in the loan agreement with the Taiwanese, this is what it says: ‘Notwithstanding anything provided to the contrary herein, the lender or any person designated by the lender in connection with the administration of the loan shall in no event be responsible for monitoring or ensuring the actual use of the proceed or any part thereof, or any advance or the progress of the project,” Bramble further stated.
He commented:
“So basically, what the Tawianese are saying, ‘We lend you this money to build the hospital. What you want to do with it, really don’t care whether you spend the money to build the hospital or not’,” Bramble said.
He noted the government also selected a company to construct the hospital without going through the tendering process.
“We were informed in Parliament by the Minister of Finance that they selected a Taiwanese company called OECC, that’s Overseas Engineering Construction Company, out of Taiwan,” Bramble said, adding that OECC’s bid was around US$100 million.
“We don’t know if there are any other companies who would have bid less, who would have provided better service than … this company.”
He said the government did not indicate whether awarding the loan to a Taiwanese company was part of the negotiations.
“ … where the Taiwanese said to you, ‘Look, we’re lending you this money, but you have to hire time on his company to do the work,” the opposition lawmaker further said.
“All of these unanswered questions point to the fact that this government, the ULP administration, has time and time and time and time again, refused to be accountable to the people of this country,” Bramble said.
“And the people of this country really need to start to pay attention and stand up and speak out. We need to stand up and speak out.”
Bramble said that the opposition is not opposed to the construction of the hospital.
“We know when you’re living in a dynamic society, social good and social services are always in demand,” he said, adding that it is the responsibility of the state to provide proper health care.
“And as a matter of fact, had we not been so delinquent with providing proper health care and taking care of our health care facilities, we may not have been where we are today.”
Asked why the government would want to use the hospital loan for anything else, Bramble said, “Your guess is as good as mine…
“The fact that we don’t know, for example, the true cost of the construction of the airport, the fact that we don’t know, for example, the true cost of the construction of the modern port that’s being constructed right now, all of those realities do not give me confidence that the monies are spent the way they ought to be spent in their entirety.
“And until you start answering questions and providing the people of this country with proper information as to how you’re spending the money, there will always be questions asked.”
Bramble said that the opposition is simply asking for “proper accountability and proper transparency so that people can know you borrowed US$100 million to build the hospital and that is what you spent or maybe you saved some money, you only spent 75 million, what’s going to happen to the other 25 million”.
Responding to any question, Bramble said it may be possible, based on the loan agreement with Taiwan, for the government to use the US$125 loan to start both the hospital and a new Parliament building.
“It is possible based on the agreement in the loan, based on the clause in the loan agreement that I just mentioned here, we would hope that it doesn’t happen,” he said.
In 2020, the government borrowed EC$53 million from Taiwan for the construction of a new Parliament building.
The government began clearing the sites over the last week.
“… here’s the question that I’m asking you… What was so critical that if you had followed the World Bank’s advice to go back out to tenure, even if it delayed the project by a year? What is so critical that you have to start the project a year earlier? We have waited this long to come,” he said as one of the hosts of the show responded, “Elections”.
Wow. Construction spending would have to be approved via requisition and work order.
Their must be accountable and oversight
At last someone is asking the real questions which needs to be answered.
Is Taiwan a true ally to SVG and it’s people or is their allegiance to the ULP?