Causeway bridge
PHILIPSBURG--The Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service FIOD in the Netherlands is investigating two subsidiaries of construction company VolkerWessels concerning the alleged payment of bribes for obtaining and executing orders in St. Maarten, a spokesperson of the Prosecutor’s Office in the Netherlands told Dutch news agency ANP.
News about the investigation comes at the heels of the request filed last week Thursday by the Prosecutor’s Office of St. Maarten at the Enterprise Division of the Joint Court for a civil inquiry into possible maladministration within the Port of St. Maarten Group of Companies.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Netherlands, the investigation includes the construction of the causeway swing bridge in 2013.
VolkerWessels said the case is part of a larger criminal investigation into several infrastructural projects in St. Maarten. The construction company only talks about the construction of the causeway bridge and does not want to make any further statements about the investigation.
The Prosecutor’s Office has been engaged in the corruption investigation for some time already. Various business premises were searched in St. Maarten in June last year, including the offices of Standard Trust and Port of Sint Maarten. In the Netherlands, an office building of one of the suspected subsidiaries was searched.
In connection with these criminal investigations, a request for legal assistance was filed with their colleagues in St. Maarten, the Dutch Prosecutor’s Office stated.
Volker Construction International (VCI) and Volker Stevin Caribbean (VSC) started in 2010 with preparations for the construction of the causeway bridge. They won the tender in 2012 and the bridge was built in that year and in 2013.
According to VolkerWessels, VCI and VSC received around 32 million euros for the project and suffered losses of around 1.5 million euros.
VCI submitted two quotations for the construction of the causeway bridge. The Government of St. Maarten declined the first quotation as it was the most expensive. Also, the design was considered the worst.
However, during a re-evaluation St. Maarten still preferred the previously rejected expensive design, in what the Prosecutor’s Office considers an “inimitable” move. “That was suddenly the most beautiful proposal and it got a ‘ten,’” the Financieele Dagblad newspaper stated Tuesday.
The winning, expensive bid became even 10 per cent more expensive during construction. The selected most expensive proposal submitted by VolkerWessels initially would have cost US $39.5 million, but in the end the total cost of the project was set at $43.5 million.
Because, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, there are no business-like arguments for the choice of the most expensive variant and for it becoming even more expensive, it is presumed that personal interests of those involved may have played a role.
The government-owned Port of St. Maarten Group of Companies financed the construction by VolkerWessels of the bridge across Simpson Bay Lagoon in 2013 by issuing a bond loan of $150 million. According to the Prosecutor’s Office of St. Maarten, this way of funding is one of five indications of maladministration at the Port.
With the proceeds of the bond loan the harbour refinanced $100 million in existing loans. With the rest of the money the Port paid for the bridge.
Its subsidiaries VCI and VSC are no longer active since 2014, says VolkerWessels. The construction company has announced its own research into the allegations and has engaged external experts. VolkerWessels shares closed at 22.48 euros on Monday.
The Joint Court will give its decision on the request for a civil inquiry into the alleged maladministration at the Port of St. Maarten on June 26.
