Tainted Louis Berger official was also involved in Rs 3000 crore worth Goa airport consultancy project

Panaji: Former Louis Berger official James McClung, who has pleaded guilty to a US court for paying $ 976,630 in bribes to a yet-unnamed Goa politician and officials in 2010 for a multi-billion dollar water and sewage management project, was also the pointsman for another project, the Rs. 3000 crore worth Mopa Greenfield airport in Goa, in which the New Jersey-based firm was appointed technical consultant.

A 2011 official brochure profiling the company shows the tainted McClung, now former senior vice president as the lead official in charge of the controversy-ridden greenfield airport project in North Goa, raising questions about the sanctity of the deal struck between the Goa government and the consultancy firm, whose officials subsequently have come under cloud in the international bribery scandal.

“Under the direction of James S. McClung, senior vice president, and Satyakam Mohanty, vice president, the Team includes T.G. Vijay Raj, project manager; Guillermo Ubilla, team leader/airport planning expert; Bhuwan Agarwal, project coordinator; R.K. Khanka, economist and financial expert; Shirish Avrani, urban planner; V.P. Malhotra, electrical engineer; Asjad Hamid, mechanical engineer; Rajesh Gupta, roads and buildings expert; Susanta Latua, water supply and sewerage expert; V.B. Shreshtha, geotechnical engineer; and Sarang Joshi, utilities engineer,” the brochure reads while spelling out the details of the project alongside.

“The government of Goa initiated an ambitious assignment to develop and operate a greenfield airport and commercial/industrial area in Mopa, a village located in the Pernem district, in anticipation of the closure of the state’s existing airport in Dabolim. The construction will take place over a 2,600-acre area of land,” the brochure reads.

Then Dubai-based McClung 59 who was heading the company’s India operations, along with fellow senior vice president Richard Hirsch, 61, who was in-charge of the Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, pleaded guilty to the US District Court of New Jersey to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and one substantive count of violating the FCPA. In 2010, Mcclung allegedly bribed a Goa minister and state officials $ 976,630 to secure implementation rights for a multi-billion dollar project funded by the Japanese government.

The duo are likely to be sentenced in November this year.

A BJP spokesperson has now said there is no need to review the technical consultancy agreement signed with Louis Berger. “There is no need to cancel the agreement… We can review the advice they give later,” state BJP vice president Dr. Wilfred Mesquita told Firstpost.

Speaking to Firstpost Congress spokesperson Durgadas Kamat however raised questions about the BJP’s decision to continue with the Rs. 19 crore consultancy deal with Louis Berger.

“There’s definitely something fishy. If the deal was done during the Congress tenure is suspect, what is need for with the BJP government to continue with the Louis Berger contract. Scrap it immediately. How do we know the advice given by McClung, then with Louis Berger, was genuine?,” Kamat said.

Speaking to Firstpost Regine de la Cruz a spokesperson for Louis Berger confirmed that McClung was part of the Mopa project, but also added that he did not offer “technical input into the project”.

“We conducted an internal investigation, cooperated with the US Department of Justice investigation and addressed in an honest and transparent way the problems caused by rogue former managers James McClung and Richard Hirsh,” the spokesperson said, adding that Louis Berger has done what “companies are expected to do to root out corruption”.

“In fact, McClung intentionally sought to conceal his illegal activities during the initial stages of the company’s internal investigation and then from the US Government. Louis Berger’s own investigation uncovered McClung’s outrageous conduct. We reported his actions to the US government, which then conducted its investigation,” she added.

BJP state president Vinay Tendulkar has already demanded blacklisting of Louis Berger from future projects initiated by the Goa government.

The writer is the Goa Correspondent for Indo-Asian News Service