Ajay Jha, the controversial figure who was the local representative of the India-based contracting firm Fedders Lloyd blacklisted by the World Bank, was also involved in the problematic drainage pump project inked in 2018.
On September 3, 2018, the APNU+ AFC government began procuring the engines by signing a deal of US$3.6 million with Apollo International for the supply and installation of the 12 drainage pumps to the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).
Jha was the Apollo International representative who signed the pact for the new pumps alongside the then NDIA Chief Executive Officer, Frederick Flatts.
Engines for drainage pumps highlighted in Auditor General’s report were purchased by APNU/AFC
But two years before, in 2016, Jha was the local representative of Indian company, Fedders- Lloyd. That company had been blacklisted by the World Bank for four years for violating the financial institute’s procurement guidelines against fraud and corruption in the Africa region.
Jha subsequently said he cut ties with the company. Two years later, he emerged as an Apollo Representative.
Jha was also a client of the then Vice President, Khemraj Ramjattan who was part of the Alliance for Change (AFC) in the APNU+AFC coalition.
In 2018, the then agriculture minister Noel Holder told the nation that his coalition government had procured the right engines for the job. The engines were to be delivered within 12 months, but a recent release from the Ministry of Agriculture stated that never happened.
The wrong engines arrived in March 2020, during the election fiasco. The release further noted that over US$2.3 million had already been paid to Apollo.
In 2021, a second payment of US$501,000 was made, and the engines were installed on the pumps at various locations across the country.
The current PPP/C government withheld the balance payment after finding out that APNU+AFC had purchased the wrong engines. In 2022, the PPP/C government engaged the company and in turn, Apollo reportedly signaled its preparedness to send a team of engineers to resolve the matter.
It was also been issued with an ultimatum. The company was told that if it failed to meet the government’s demand the “NDIA will purchase and install the engines and deduct the cost for doing same from the balance of the contract price.”
The new government remains in negotiations with the Indian Company to have the matter settled.
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