The Audit Bureau report for 2020/2021 has made several observations about the environmental fuel project, including the payment by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) about 7.79 million dinars to extend the project in two installments.
The report indicated the first extension for 17 months from the Aug 1, 2018 until Dec 31, 2019 cost about 1.199 million dinars, and the second extension about 6.591 million dinars, an increase of about 5.392 million, or 449.6 percent, over the first extension.
The Al-Rai daily said, the report indicated despite the high cost of the extensions, new conditions were imposed that included all units of the project, because it did not cover some of the vital operations of the units such as the start-up, performance testing of units and commercial operation, which is one of the most vital operations during the project’s operating period, as well as the lack of insurance cover during floods caused by heavy rains.
The report attributed this to the high value of the huge insurance claims submitted by the project contractors related to the 2018 rains until the geotechnical consultant was appointed by the insurance company to prepare the report, as well as making exceptions stipulating the exclusion of any losses or damages directly or indirectly due to several national calamities.
The report revealed the company continued not to recover all insurance claims resulting from the project’s exposure to rain, as a result of the delay in submitting the report by the geotechnical consultant appointed by the insurance company on soil assessment and the extent of damage until the end of March 2021, despite his appointment in December 2019 and the report was to be completed mid-June 2020.
The report indicated that the total insurance claims for all package contractors after the amendment was about 21.437 million dinars until the end of March 2021, and 10 million dinars were recovered as a down payment from the insurance company.