LOBAMBA:Prince Lonkhokhela, the Minister of Natural Resources and Energy says the R5.2billion Strategic Oil Reserve contract signed with Taiwan will not be implemented pending Parliament approval.
This comes after Government through the Eswatini National Petroleum Company(ENPC) signed a contract with a Taiwan company without following a fair and transparent tendering process, a company that agreed to construct the Oil Reserve with R2.2billion was sidelined.
But despite the signing of the agreement, the Natural Resources Minister told MPs this week that, the project will not be implemented without Parliament approval.
The R5.2billion project was exposed by this Swaziland News through a series of investigative articles, some MPs subsequently declared that they will oppose the project in Parliament citing alleged corruption in the process of awarding the tender to the Taiwan company.
But it remains to be seen if Parliament will succeed in stopping the project that was endorsed by King Mswati.
Taiwan enjoys close ties with King Mswati who also ordered Government to sign the agreement and “ensure that, the project is implemented”.
Natural Resources Minister says Parliament to decide on Taiwan R5.2billion Strategic Oil Reserve, corruption oriented project to be funded with public funds vigorously opposed by some MPs(pic: Internet).