The World Bank on Monday suspended contracts to a German company found guilty of paying bribes in the multi-billion dollar Lesotho Highlands Water project (LHWP), according to World Bank Press Review.
Lahmeyer International, a privately-held engineering firm, is barred from receiving World Bank funds for up to seven years, but could see that verdict reduced by four years if it shows greater transparency and proves its corporate behavior has changed, the Bank said in a statement released in Johannesburg.
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz applauded the government of Lesotho … for standing up to powerful companies on graft.
– Institutions like the World Bank, and the governments of rich countries, should support the bold stance of poor countries like Lesotho. he said in a statement.
In making its recommendation to The World Bank, the investigative committee took into account several factors, including Lahmeyer’s lack of co-operation with the World Bank’s investigation, as well as Lahmeyer’s payment of a criminal fine in Lesotho and its co-operation with the Lesotho authorities.
The LHWP is a multi-billion dollar water transfer and hydropower project by the governments of Lesotho and South Africa. The project was designed principally to transfer water from the Maluti Mountains in eastern and central Lesotho to Gauteng in South Africa.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
