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Dam builders charged in bribery scandal
 The project is intended to supply water to South Africa |
By Greg Barrow in Johannesburg
Eight international construction companies have been charged with bribery in Lesotho after they allegedly paid bribes to win contracts for a multi-million dollar dam project.
The scandal concerns contracts for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, a dam construction venture which has been partly funded by the World Bank. The first phase of the project has been completed with the construction of the Katse dam in Lesotho.
This will eventually form part of a water control system comprising at least four other dams and pipelines, controlling rainfall in the Lesotho mountains and supplying fresh water to South Africa.
The cost of the project is estimated at around $8bn and competition for construction contracts has been fierce.
The Lesotho Government says it discovered that some of the international companies bidding for the contracts had attempted to bribe the overall manager of the scheme.
Among the alleged offenders are companies from France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa. The World Bank says it is now giving financial support to the Lesotho Government's investigation into corruption and bribery.
The statement said the bank would take a hard line if any evidence of corruption arose. It said that if a company were discovered to have paid bribes, it could be excluded from participating in any World Bank projects elsewhere.
The companies facing the bribery charges have been summoned to appear in court in Maseru at the end of the month.
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