Payumo tagged in a power station corruption investigation

It seems that Danish company Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC) is no stranger to controversy, and has been involved in a number of bribery cases in the tendering process for power stations in various countries around the globe. In a on-going due deligence before awarding a contract, numerous bribery scandals were unearthed and the name Payumo surfaced.

One such events concerning BWSC corruption and bribery said:

1999 internal documents reveal $90,000 were paid in bribes to Felicito Payumo, a high ranking official in the Philippines, concerning the Subic Bay power project. These 'payments' were approved by BSWC director, Soren Barkholt,

Payumo had held the positon of head of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Representatives of the BWSC in the Philippines confirmed in writing to the Danish Company that with the amount paid, Mr Payumo would have immediately signed the contract.

Danish newspaper the ‘Borsen’

In an earlier article in Olongapo Subic News, according to a six-month study of project documents conducted by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), at least seven in 10 projects funded by official development assistance (ODA) loans have failed to deliver their touted benefits and results,

Politics ruined many a good ODA project, such as the Second Subic Bay Freeport project, which was funded by a $60-million World Bank loan that became effective toward the end of President Fidel Ramos’ term in late 1997. The project aimed to improve power and water services in the special economic zone and nearby Olongapo City.

In time, an extended political dispute, triggered by then President Joseph Estrada’s decision to replace Richard Gordon with Felicito Payumo as administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), delayed and reduced the project’s scale.

Olongapo City, the Gordons’ political bailiwick, backed out of plans to merge the city’s public utilities department with that of the SBMA. A project to develop a bulk water source in a nearby municipality for the free port was delayed and eventually canceled, the report said.

http://subicbaynews.blogspot.com/2008/02/7-in-10-oda-projects-fail-to-deliver.html