DAVAO CITY – Environmentalists opposing the coal-fired power plant here expressed their worry on the operation of the coal plant here pointing at the alleged multiple corruption cases faced by its contractor in many countries.
In a statement released on Friday, the Network Oppposed to Coal-fired Power Plants (No to Coal- Davao) said “Leighton Holdings, the mother company of Leighton Contractors (Philippines), faces multiple raps of corporate corruption in Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq, and Australia. It stands accused of bribing government officials for approval of construction projects in Southeast Asian countries.”
“Just last year, Leighton Holdings was involved in a corporate corruption issue in Iraq, where they were involved in mining construction projects,” Dr. Jean Lindo, No to Coal spokesperson said.
Leighton Contractors (Philippines) Inc. is one of the foreign and local partners hired by Aboitiz Power Corp. through its subsidiary Therma South, Incorporated (TSI) for the construction of the P20-billion power plant here. The testing of the 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant was disrupted after the Mindanao-wide blackout on April 5.
“It is interesting that these people were allowed to do business on Philippine soil, when a simple Google search will show reportage that Leighton Holdings’ top officials had full knowledge of the kickbacks received by government officials for their approval for Leighton Holdings over the pending construction projects,” Lindo said.
“It seems that Leighton Holding’s record is known in many countries, except in the Philippines, where it has multiple investments as of the moment,” Lindo said.
