Governu Hili Mina Karun Habokur Sunshine Povu Lakon US$810,000.00

Jacinto Alves: la'ós hare ba Ha'

Iha mea do fulan Maiu IV Governu Konstitusional ho obrigatoriamente hakotu kontratu fornesimentu mina ba EDTL husi kompañia Pualaka Petróleu hafoin mosu konfrontasaun entre jerente na'in tolu. Nune'e hahú iha loron 25 fulan Maiu 09, kompañia Sunshine maka hetan fali sorte hodi fornese mina ba EDTL. Bainhira kontratu ho Kompañia Sunshine atu hotu, governu liu husi Aprovizionamentu sentrál loke konkursu públiku ida, ne'ebé kompañia lubun maka hola parte iha fulan Novembru 09, no kompañia Sunshine maka sei fornese nafatin mina ba EDTL. Prosesu tender ne'e rasik lori tempu lubun ida, to'o momentu ne'ebé governu anúnsiu ba públiku katak kompañia ETO mak sai Vensedor. Kompañia seluk hato'o protesta no hamosu alegasaun KKN no Monopóliu iha fornesimentu Mina ba Governu RDTL tan ba diretór ETO subrinu husi PM Xanana no nia hala'o daudaun projetu seluk husi governu nia mos. Husi protesta ne'e obriga governu friza tiha rezultadu tender refere to'o agora . Nune'e governu emenda tan kontratu ba kompañia Sunshine to'o loron 31/01/2010. Fulan Fevereiru mós to'o daudaun ba nia rohan no loron hi'it nia an ba dere odamatan fulan Marsu nian maibé kompañia Sunshine maka sei fornese nafatin mina ba EDTL no sei hein nafatin tempu foo rezultadu tender . Nune'e durasaun Fornesimentu Mina ba EDTL husi kompañia sunshine hamutuk fulan sia katak fulan neen ho kontratu orijinál no dezde fulan Dezembru ate Fevereiru la'o ho emenda saun

Deputadu Arsenio Paixao Bano husi bankada Fretilín ho lian maka'as via telemovel estiona emenda saun ba kontratu no alega katak, “kuandu emenda kontratu mina folin tun maka sira tau nafatin ka hasa'e folin tan ne'e na'ok ona osan povu nian.”

Tuir invoice husi kompañia Sunshine Petrol Group no. 53/SPG/P.O/RDTL Dezembru 2009 kompañia Sunshine fornese mina ba EDTL ho folin kada litru US$0,953 duke kompañia importadór seluk hanesan Pertamina ne'ebé fa'an ho folin litru ida entre US$0.79-US$0.80 no Atauru Oil fa'an kada litru US$0.78. Bainhira kompara presu entre Sunshine ho Pertamina nian mosu diferensa presu US$0.15 (sentavu dolar amerikanu sanulu resin lima) no kompara ho presu Atauru Oil nian hatudu katak Povu Timor Leste lakon US$0.17 (sentavu dolar Amerikanu sanulu resin hitu) ba kada litru. Ho diferensa ida ne'e hatudu katak iha fulan Dezembru estadu lakon saugati US$ 450,000.00 osan ne'ebé loloos bele rai ba hadi'a eskola ruma lakon saugati hanesan Bano ko'alia. Iha segunda Feira kotuk bankada opozisaun liu husi plenária parlamentu nasionál kestiona kondisaun eskola ida iha besik foho matebian nia hun ne'ebé sei aat hela, aula la sufisiente, kuran profesór no sala ba mestra sira la iha maibe estadu soe lerek tiha US$450,000.00..

Nia esplika ninia alegasaun, “na'ok osan povu nian ne'e tan presu mina tun maibé governu la halo tuir meuz normál. Liu tan nia realsa ninia akuzasaun katak, “Se presu ne'e tun governu deside selu ho presu nafatin, ne'e na'ok osan povu nian.

“Se konkursu normál halo tiha ona, kontratu la asina depois emenda de'it kontratu ne'ebé iha ona entaun halo konkursu ida, iha fulan Novembru ne'e para halo saa ida?” kestiona Bano.

Tuir Bano ninia hanoin, “ne'e labele, ne'e mal administrasaun.”

“se maka responsabiliza ba fasilita kontratu ne'e, ema ne'e irresponsavel, morál la iha, la iha seriedade i ema ne'e la responsavel,” Deputadu Bano alega.

Arsenio hateten katak iha parte balun governu gasta osan la ho kalkula saun maibé iha parte seluk kondisaun povu nia moris aat hela.“Ne'e hakarak fakar osan naran-naran de'it, so para habokur de'it ema balun,” nia duun.

Vice Prezidente Partidu mais Votadu mak lakon governasaun iha 2007 hodi dudu ninia partidu Fretilín sai de'it opozisaun ne'e hateten katak, “problema governu la iha planu, nune'e hodi fakar osan naran-naran, hodi habokur ema balun. Haree ba eskola barak sei aat envezde hadi'a eskola maibé foo bokur ba de'it kompañia sira ne'ebé ho tipu kontratu hanesan sunshine.”

Nia hateten se kalkula didi'ak maka gasta entaun sei salva osan barak atu bele uza dada bee ba populasaun no hadi'a eskola lubun ruma iha Dili no interiór inklui Irrigasaun barak ke la funsiona envezde tau matan ba ida ne'e maibe “Governu hili sosa mina husi kompañia ne'ebé fa'an ho folin aas ne'e hamosu duvida s,” dehan Ban

Deputadu ne'e haktuir katak tuir prosesu normál labele emenda liu dala ida ba kontratu hanesan. Nia esplika katak bele emenda kontratu dala ida depois hahu halo ona prosesu tender no foo sai ninia rezultadu hodi estabelese kontratu loloos.

 

Hatan ba Preokupasaun Deputadu Bano nian Joao Martins nain husi Sunshine dehan governu maka hili ninia kompañia tan ba servisu di’ak ne'ebé durante fulan sia nia laran la hamosu problema ruma. “Governu foti desizaun ne’e ha’u tuir de’it purke Governu hakarak Timor atu sai di'ak,” dehan João Martins ba jornál ne'e iha dada lia ida iha otél Timor loron (25/02/2010) Kinta.

Tuir invoice kompañia sunshine petrol group ne'ebé asina husi manajer jerál, Chian Choon Ning iha loron 24/12/2009 ne'ebé jornál ne'e konsege hetan, dekreta iha pájina uluk liu no segundu katak totál mina ne'ebé hatama ba EDTL litru 1,257,890 ne'e ba konsumu eletrisidade ba loron 12 nian iha Dili, ne’e estadu gasta ona US$1,198,768.17. “Agora daudaun mais ou menus ita halo perhitungan ne’e, EDTL fulan ida Timor tomak konsume mina 3,5 miloens litru pur mezes,” dehan Joao Martins na'in ida husi kompañia Sunshine.

Hataan kona ba komparasaun presu mina sunshine ne'ebé karun liu duke sira seluk Sr. Martins hateten, “presu mina nian ne’e, ita tenkesér kompara buat ne’e hanesan masan ba masan.” No razaun seluk mina Sunshine karun maka, “sira (kompañia seluk) ninia mina ne’e light heavy fuel ou NGIO nia salfa ne’e 1,5% ou 1% ida ne’e ha’u la hatene, maibé mina ne'ebé husi parte Sunshine fornese ne’e High Speed Diezel fuel salfa 0.05% no mina ida ne’e nia kualidade superiór liu husi sira seluk ne'ebé reklama katak mina ne’e nia presu aas.”

Nia esplika kona ba presu mina iha fulan Dezembru nian, ““Iha Dezembru ho agora ne’e ita kompara, mina baril ida ne’e kuaze atinji kedas U$.80 dolar, ne’e duni ita tenke hare premiun refinaria nia sobre kualidade mina temparadu no mina nia kualidade ou presu ne’e ami avalia sai hanesan ne’e.

Tuir João Martins katak, “agora daudaun mais ou menus ita halo halo perhitungan ne’e EDTL fulan ida Timor tomak konsume mina 3,5 miloens litru pur mezes.”

Nia foo agradesimentu ba Governu ne'e foo ona fiar ba nia atu servisu hamutuk iha área eletricidade. “Ha'u hakarak husu obrigadu ba Governu atu hare estabilidade timor nian tanba Sunshine mós tenta meu s posivel atu nune'e ahi labele mate ona iha timor ne’e,” João Taka.

Tuir dokumentu s ne'ebé jornál ne'e konsege deskobre husi gabinete Sekretáriu Estadu Eletrisidade hatudu katak kompañia Atauro Oil haruka ona kotasaun folin mina fulan Janeiru ho Fevereiru 2010 nian ba parte relevante. “Ha'u hakarak aprezenta ba ita boot kotasaun Presu ba High Speed diesel iha fulan janeiru (2010) ne'e,” hakerek iha surat kotasaun Atauro Oil Supply LDA. Kotasaun ne'e aprezenta folin mina kada litru US$0.77 (sentavu hitu nulu resin hitu) no presu kada litru iha fulan Fevereiru Atauru hafolin husu US$0.80. Kompara ho Sunshine ne'ebé fa'an kada litru US$0.893 iha fulan Janeiru ne'e karun liu US$0.12 (dolar sentavu sanulu resin rua). Se Governu mak uza kotasaun iha fulan Janeiru karik, estadu konsege salva osan povu nian hamutuk US$360,000.00. Atua saun hili sosa mina karun durante fulan Dezembru 2009 no Janeiru 2010 nia laran de'it halakon ona osan povu nian totál US$810,000.00 tan ba gastu la efisient

Kompañia Atauru mós aprezenta ho dokumentu seluk hanesan “sertifikadu de kualidade” husi Schutter Far East Sdn.Bhd hodi foo garantia katak Atauro Oil mós importa mina High Speed Diesel duni. Bainhira jornál ne'e tenta atu konfirma ho diretór kompañia Atauru Oil Sr. Lorenco maibe nia lakohi foo komentáriu no rejeita atu foo komentáriu tan ba razaun lakohi halo problema ho kompañia seluk.

Iha parte seluk Deputadu Inásiu Moreira kondena maka'as gasta osan estadu la bazeia ba kalkula saun ne'e.

“Tenke halo kálkulu ida matemátiku alokasaun osan ba iha mina ne'e; la bele ezajeradu; ida ne'e presiza hare flutuasaun presu mina iha mundu. kompañia ida agora daudauk fornese mina (EDTL) presu hanesan “ezajeradu,” alega Deputa Inási

“Ha'u hanoin devia governu hili kompañia ne'ebé fa'an mina ho folin baratu hodi asegura orsamentu estadu duke sosa folin karun hariku kompañia ida ho ninia belun sira,” lamenta Inásiu Moreira.

Nia dekonfia katak, “Alokasaun osan mak la halo kálkulu matemátiku, hanoin tau de’it. Ha’u bele deskonfia katak iha intensaun.”

Deputadu ne'e sujere, “tuir loloos governu ba husu kotasaun husi kompañia importadór hotu-hotu hodi estuda ida ne'ebé maka bele foo folin di'ak.”

Iha momentu hanesan tuir deputa Inásiu Moreira katak folin mina husi kompañia sunshine ne'e, “ ezajeradu.” Nia foo razaun katak, “ flutuasaun mina iha mundu ba mai mak 70-80 sentavu pur litru, tanba saida mak agora sa’e liu ba 95 sentavu. Ne’e presiza hare halo investigasaun, karik alokasaun osan mak la halo kálkulu matemátiku, hanoin tau de’it. Ha’u bele deskonfia katak iha intensaun,” alega membru parlamentu husi bankada Fretilín ne'e.

“Labele husik liu ba hahalok ne'ebé kontra Lei ou intensaun ne'ebé la di'ak a loka osan fó malu de'it,” Inásiu Komenta.

Deputadu ne'e deskonfia katak prosesu fornesimentu mina ne'e mós hamosu duvida s. “Ha'u halo observasaun por ezemplu Sunshine, la hatene, ha'u rona de'it iha relasaun ho membru Governu sira balun; ami hare hanesan fó malu de'it, ho presu ne'ebé ita bele hateten ezajeradu, tanba ita hare flutuasaun mina ba mai 70 sa'e liu mak 80.”

Nune'e deputadu ne''e hateten katak durante ne'e fornesimentu mina ba EDTL foo de'it ba familia membru do IV governu ninian nune'e nia husu, “presiza kontrola no haree i husu Governu atu hare fornesimentu mina ba EDTL ne’e ho jenuinu matenek depois mak halo desizaun. La bele fó de'it ba malu, maibé tenke liu husi prosesu ida ke legál i tanba fornesimentu mina ita Timor oan sira mós bele, iha mós iha kondisaun no bele halo esforsu oinsá bele fornese mina ba EDTL,” Inásiu deklara.

Funsionariu iha EDTL mós rekoñese katak presu mina Sunshine karun liu tan ne'e iha loron 29/01/2010 ho surat númeru referénsia 018/DG/1/10, diretór jerál EDTL Mac Maidens hakerek ba Manuel Monteiro, diretór Aprovizionamentu Ministériu Finansas ho konteudu hanesan, “Bazeia ba karta husi Sekretáriu Estadu da Eletrisidade, Agua e Urbanizasaun ho no Ref. 10/SE-EAU/1/10, maka ho ida ne'e diresaun nasionál Eletrisidade de TL hakarak atu hato'o ba ita boot hodi foti desizaun ruma ba kompañia Atauru Oil Supplay, no mós EDTLhakarak atu konfirma kona ba presu kombustivel husi fornesedor kombustivel EDTL agora daudauk (sunshine) ho presu mina iha merkadu tan ba tuir observasaun presu husi Mina kompañia Sunshine nian aas tebes. Obrigado ba ita nia servisu hamutuk,” asina husi Mac Maidens ne'ebé CC ba ministru Infraestrutura, Sekretáriu Estadu Eletrisidade no diretór jerál administrasaun Finansas iha Ministériu infraestrutura.

Tuir surat ida seluk Sekretáriu Eletrisidade mós rekoñese katak presu mina husi kompañia seluk di'ak liu fali Sunshine ninian. Kuandu jornál ne'e kestion ninia surat ref. 10/SE-EAU/1/10 Sekretáriu Estadu ne'e finje tiha ho diplomasia dehan, “tenderizasaun la halo iha ne’e,maibé hala’o iha Aprovizionamentu Sentrál tanba ne’e ha’u la hatene no bele ba husu iha ne'ebá.”

Nia esplika ho oin mistura katak, “Kontratu ne’e hala’o iha Ministériu Finansas ne’e duni husu ba sira, tanba ami hein hodi simu de’it. Kuandu kontratu ho valór boot sira mak halo advertais no sira mak avalia, ami haruka de’it ami nia pesoál tékniku ba hamutuk iha ne'ebá hodi halo desizaun no ami hala’o tuir desizaun ne'ebé iha.”

Bainhira jornál ne'e klarifika ba Francisco Soares nia hateten katak, ““kestaun la'ós tanba presu, maibé depende ba presu iha merkadu internasionál ne'ebé sempre tun sa'e hela de'it.”

Husu Razaun foo nafatin ba Sunshine ne'e Burlaku argumenta katak, “tanba nia uluk tuir tender mak manan , razaun mak ida ne'e, liu husi prosesu ida mak sira sei kaer nafatin.”

Interesante kuandu ema balun dehan fali muda husi Pualaka ba Sunshine ne'e rotasaun de'it hanesan diretór jerál kompañia Sunshine hateten.

Iha oportunidade ne'e mós Francisco esplika uitoan kona ba prosesu tender ne'ebé manan ona husi ETO. “Hein de'it desizaun governu, kumu hein desizaun husi governu seidauk foti, entaun Sunshine para atende nesesidade la bele husik.”

Maiske Mac Maidens dehan ona Mina Sunshine karun maibé Francisco Soares sei ka'er metin nafatin Sunshine. Sekretáriu Estadu Januário Pereira propoin ona kompania seluk ne’ebe fa’an mina baratu hodi poupa osan Povu ninian ne'e sulin hanesan mina.

The Government chooses more expensive fuel fattening Sunshine whilst the public loses US$810,000.00.

Jacinto Alves: You should looking at me.

In the middle of the month of May 2009 the Fourth Constitutional Government was forced to terminate the fuel supply contract to the EDTL by the company Pualaka Petroleu after there was a clash between the three directors.

When the contract with the Company Sunshine ended, the government opened a public tender through its central procurement, which a number of companies competed for in the month of November 2009, and the company Sunshine continued to supply fuel to EDTL.

This tender process took some time, up to the time when the government announced to the public that the company ETO had won the tender. The other companies lodged protests and allegations of Collusion, Corruption and Nepotism emerged as well as concerns of a monopoly being created because the director of ETO is the nephew of the Prime Minister Xanana and he had also been awarded other project tenders by the government at the time.  As a result the government was forced to freeze the tender until now.

Consequently the government extended the contract with the company Sunshine up to 31/01/2010.  For the month of February until now into March it is still the company Sunshine that is supplying fuel to EDTL and the result of the tender is still not known.  As a result the total time duration in which Sunshine has been has now been supplying fuel to EDTL has been nine months with an original six-month contract that was merely extended from the end of December until the end of February.

FRETILIN MP Arsenio Paixao Bano from FRETILIN loudly questioned this contract extension through a telephone interview alleging that, “when a contract is amended but despite the price of fuel falling, they still continue with a higher price then this is theft of public moneys.”

According to invoices from Sunshine Petrol group number 53/SPG/P.O/RDTL dated December 2009 the company Sunshine supplied EDTL with fuel valued at US$00.953 whilst other importing companies like Pertamina sold fuel at between US$00.79 – US$00.80 and Atauro Oil sold fuel at US$00.78 per liter.

A comparison of the price between sunshine and Pertamina results in a difference of US$00.15 (fifteen US cents) and compared with Atauro Oil’s price that shows that the public loses US$00.17 (seventeen US cents) per liter.

This difference in prices shows that for the month of December the state lost US$450,000 that could have been saved and used for some schools instead of being wasted as Bano said.  On Monday last the FRETILIN parliamentary bench in the plenary of the national parliament questioned the condition of a school located at the foot of Mount Matebian, which was in a decrepit condition, insufficient rooms for all the students, in need of teachers, without a room for the staff and yet the state carelessly threw away US$450,000.

He alleged, “public funds were stolen because the price of fuel feel but the government carried on as normal.”  He added to his accusation that, “If the price fell and the government decided to pay the same price they had been paying, then that means stealing from the public purse.”

“If a tender has been held, but the contract is yet to be signed but is merely extended, then why hold the tender in the first place?” Bano questioned.

According to Bano, “this should not happen, this is maladministration. Who will take responsibility for facilitating this contract, these persons who did this are irresponsible, immoral, are not serious or responsible,” alleged Bano.

Arsenio said that on one hand the government spends money without properly calculating what it is spending but on the other hand the peoples’ living conditions is still very poor. “this is throwing money out aimlessly just in order to fatten up a few people,” he accused.

The Vice President of the most voted party who lost the opportunity to govern in 2007, thus becoming the major opposition party said that, “the problem with the government is that they do not have a plan, so they just throw money away aimlessly, just to fatten up some people.  Look at the schools many of which are in a state of disrepair and instead of repairing them they fatten up companies with contracts such as the type Sunshine was given.”

He said that if they calculate their spending properly then they will save a lot of money that they can use to pipe water to communities and fix quite a few schools in Dili and in rural areas including to better a lot of the irrigation schemes that are not currently functioning, instead of looking after companies who sell with a price that causes a lot of concern and doubt,” Bano said.

The MP followed up saying that according to the normal processes you cannot make more than one amendment for the same contract.  He explained that you could amend a contract once after a tender has been held and the winning bidder has been announced.

Responding to the concerns of Mr. Bano, Joao Martins who is the owner of Sunshine said that the government selected his company because of its superior service in the last nine months when it had faced problems with the previous supplier. “The government made this decision and I just followed them because I assumed the government acts in Timor’s interests,” Joao Martins told this newspaper during an interview at Hotel Timor on Thursday, 25 February 2010.

According to the invoice from Sunshine Petrol Group that was signed by its general manger Chian Choon Ning on 24/12/2009, which this newspaper was able to obtain, it was written on the front page and second page that the amount of fuel supplied to EDTL was 1,257,890 liters to generate electricity for 12 days in Dili, whereby the state paid US$1,198,768.17.  “Right now we calculate that more or less EDTL consumes 3.5 million liters per month,” said the Sunshine company proprietor Joao Martins.

Responding to questions regarding the price of Sunshine fuel being more expensive than the others Mr. Martins said, “When we compare the price of fuel we must compare apples with apples.” The reason it is more expensive than other fuel is that, “their (the other companies) fuel is light heavy fuel, or NGIO with 1.5% sulfur or 1% I don’t know, but Sunshine’s fuel is High Speed Diesel fuel with sulfur content 0.05% and this is superior quality from that of those who are claiming that this fuel is more expensively.”

He explained that regarding the price of fuel for the month of December, “If we compare from December till now, the price of fuel pre barrel rose to US$80.00, so for this very reason we have to look at the fact that this fuel comes from a premium refinery that is properly refined and therefore its quality of price is evaluated in this context.”

According to Joao Martins, “at the moment we calculate that EDTL consumes approximately 3.5 million liters per month.

He thanked the government for the confidence they had in him to work together with them in the electricity sector.  “I want to thank the Government for seeking stability in Timor and Sunshine will also makes its own efforts to ensure that the power stays on in Timor,” Joao closed.

According to documents obtained by this newspaper from the Office of the Secretary of State for Electricity, they show that the company Atauro Oil had already sent a quotation price for fuel for January and February 2010 to the relevant office.

“I want to present to you a price quotation for High Speed diesel for the current month of January (2010),” sated the quotation document from Atauro Oil Supply LDA.

This quotation presented a price for the fuel of US$00.77 (seventy seven US cents) per liter and Atauro quoted a price per liter for February of US$00.80.  This compares with the price quoted by Sunshine of US$00.893 per liter for the month of January, which is US$00.12 (twelve US cents) more expensive.

If the government had accepted the January quotation from Atauro it would have saved the public US$360,00.00. The government decision to buy fuel in December 2009 and January 2010 resulted in a total loss of US$810,000.00 to the public.

Atauro oil also presented other documents such as “certificate of quality” from Schutter Far East Sdn Bhd guaranteeing that Atauro Oil would be importing High Speed Diesel.  The director of Atauro Oil Mr. Lorenco declined to make any comments when this newspaper tried to confirm this with him because he did not wish to embroil himself in problems with other companies.

But MP Inacio Moreira condemned strongly the moneys misspent by the state arising from the calculations presented in this article.

“They have to do the mathematics on the funds allocated for fuel acquisition properly; they should not exaggerate the price of fuel; the price fluctuations in the world market should be taken into account.  I see that the company that is presently supplying fuel to the EDTL has an exaggerated price,” alleged Moreira.

“The government should select the company that sells fuel at the lower price so that the state budget benefits instead of buying more expensive fuel simply to enrich a company in which they have friends,” Moreira lamented.

He suspected that, “This was clearly a case of not doing the mathematical calculations but just deciding to go ahead, I suspect that this was intentional.”

The MP suggested that, “the government should have sought quotations from all companies that import fuel so as to evaluate which could supply the cheapest fuel.”

Moreira too said that the price at which Sunshine supplied fuel was “over the top”.  His reasons were that, “the world price fluctuations is usually between 70-80 cents per liter, so why is that the government decided to acquire fuel as high as 95 cents?  This needs to be investigated, as perhaps this did not involve a proper evaluation process but that was simply decided on.  I have my suspicions that this was intentional,” alleged the MP from the FRETILIN parliamentary bench.

“Such conduct that breaches the law or involving ill intent to just hand over benefits to one another cannot be permitted to go on,” said Moreira.

The MP suspects that there are many doubtful issues surrounding the process for supply of fuel.  “One thing for example, Sunshine has some relationship with a member of government; so from our point view it is like handing out favors to one another, with a price that we can see is inflated, because we can all see that the price fluctuation has gone from 70 cents but not beyond 80 cents.”

He said that for some time now the contracts for supplying fuel to EDTL has been given to family of members of the government, so he asks, “that there needs to be control exercised by the government to ensure that the fuel supply contracts are decided on a proper basis.  They should not be allowed to just pass on favors to one another, but there has to be a process according to the law because all Timorese businesses should have the opportunity to compete for these contracts because many have the capacity to fulfill the contracts with the EDTL,” Inacio declared.

EDTL staff also acknowledged that the price of fuel from Sunshine was more expensive and so on the 29th of January 2010 the Director General of EDTL Mac Maidens wrote letter reference number 018/DG/1/10 to Manuel Monteiro, director of Procurement at the Ministry of Finance stating,

“Based on the letter from the Secretary of State for Electricity, Water and Urbanization with reference number 10/SE-EAU/1/10, the EDTL national directorate wants to request that you decide on Atauro Oil Supply, and EDTL wishes to confirm that the price from the current supplier of the fuel to EDTL (Sunshine) is very high compared with what we have ascertained from the price of fuel in the market.  Thank you for our collaboration,” signed by Mac Maidens, which was also Ccd to the Minister for Infrastructure, the Secretary of State for Electricity and the director General of Financial Administration at the Ministry of Infrastructure.

According to another document from the Secretary of State for Electricity he acknowledged that fuel from other companies was better than Sunshine’s.

When this newspaper questioned the Secretary of State’s document ref. 10/SE-EAU/1/10 he pretended diplomatically saying, “The tender was not done here, but was done in Central Procurement, so I do not know and you have ask there.”

He explained with a curious face that, “The contract was done in the Ministry of Finance so ask there, because we just wait and receive. When it involves a contract for a large amount they advertise and evaluate, we only send our technical people to sit together to help them decide and we just comply with the decision that is made.”

When this newspaper tried to seek clarification from Francisco Soares he said that, “The issue is not the price, but it depends on the price in the international market which is always fluctuating.”

When asked why they had given the contract to Sunshine again Burlaku argued that, “because they had previously won the tender, that is the reason, they were still contracted because they had been through a process.”

It is interesting though that the shift from Pualaka to Sunshine has been described as a rotation as the director general of Sunshine himself said.

Francisco also explained a little regarding the tender that ETO had already won.  “Just wait for the government’s decision, because the government has not yet decided, so Sunshine will attend to our needs.”  Despite Mac Maidens having already stated that Sunshine’s fuel was more expensive Francisco Soares continued to maintain that it should be Sunshine.  The Secretary of State Januario Pereira has already proposed another company that sells cheaper fuel that will save public funds that are being squandered.

Tempo Semanal Defamation Case Mentioned in The AUSTRALIAN

Death threats after E Timor graft claim


Mark Dodd December 18, 2008


Article from: The Australian:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

AN Australian businessman in East Timor says he has received death threats after he questioned an allegedly corrupt $3.1 million government fuel contract.
Jack Salatian, a director and shareholder of Sunshine Petroleum, said he was threatened after questioning the awarding of a fuel contract to a rival bidder offering diesel fuel to the state electricity provider at US6c a litre higher than his bid.
The Pualaka Petroleum company, owned by Americo Lopes, the husband of East Timorese Justice Minister Lucia Lobato, was awarded the contract - a decision that led to widespread corruption concerns in Dili.
Ms Lobato is suing Jose Belo, managing editor of the weekly Tempo Semanal, for defamation after the newspaper ran a story that raised serious questions about the contract.
The row underscores claims of increasing corruption in Southeast Asia's poorest country - much of it allegedly linked to ministers and their spouses.
Mr Belo claims the contract smacks of favouritism. He told The Australian the grounds for awarding the tender were even more questionable, given Mr Lopes lacked funds to purchase the diesel fuel intended for the state electricity provider EDTL.
Instead, he was issued a Treasury letter of credit for $US3.1million, a copy of which has been obtained by The Australian.
Mr Belo accused the Government of covering up corruption by muzzling the country's media.
Mr Salatian has claimed his life was threatened by Pualaka Petroleum executives after he expressed concerns about the contract and demanded the company first settle a $US51,500 ($76,000) debt to Sunshine.
Fretilin opposition MP Jose Teixeira rejected Ms Lobato's claims of innocence and repeated his party's demand for the Government to sack the minister.