Swedish construction
company accused for contamination and corruption
The operations of the swedish construction company Skanska in Peru, Argentina and Ecuador are in the
spotlight for contaminating impacts, violation of human rights and dubious
transparency.
Skanska’s construction and
infrastructure projects as well as its oil and gas explorations have grave
impacts on natural resources, workers, indigenous communities and public
finances. The denunciation before the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (TPP) is
presented by the Centre for Investigation and prevention of criminality
(CIPCE), a programme of the Centre for public politics for socialism (CEPPAS).
Skanska is one of the 10 biggests construction companies worldwide, managing
projects in Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Sweden, UK, US, and
Venezuela.
In Argentina Skanska won a concession to expand the gas network in the
whole country within the frame of the Initiative for the Integration of
Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA). One of the projects carried
out within this plan was the “Deán Funes” project for the further development of the Northern
Gas Pipeline. In 2005, this project ended up in court for tax evasion and
setting up of and illicit tax association. The investigation found, among other
irregularitites, the issuance of false invoices and
payments to a “ghost company”. Charges of corruption involving high-ranking
government officials are still under investigation. Unjustified price
surcharges and payment of improper commissions which were used to channel
bribes to public officials, together with the evasion of taxes clearly affected
the Exchequer, depriving it of resources to finance public politics. It is
estimated the Skanska is responsible for a loss to
the State of at least 20 million pesos, plus the total amount of taxes evaded.
In Perú
the Swedish company was involved in the expansion plans of the Camisea gas pipeline. Additional to denunciations of
corruption and payment of surcharges, Skanska is
accused for its responsibility for irreparable damage to the ecosystem, caused
by non-compliance with technical specifications and lack of a protection system
for the pipes resulting in multiple explosions. Among other damages, at least
four liquid gas spillages were recorded. These were registered among the worst
ever environmental disasters in the Amazon among the biggest worldwide.
In Ecuador, Skanska was in charge of the road infrastructure for an exploration
project of Brazilian oil company Petrobras, situated
in the Huaorani territory within the Yasuní National Park Following complaints by the Huaorani and environmental organizations about the impacts
on this important biodiversity centre, the government withdrew Skanska´s license. However, negotiations are still ongoing
and the possibility that Skanska takes up its
activities again cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, Skanska
is accused of fraud, illegal gas flaring, discharge of waste water and gender
discrimination, among others. The claimants affirm that it is difficult to
investigate these activities since the zone is militarized and Skanska disposes of its own private security guards.
These cases are examples or
the privatization of justice and the impunity which the company enjoys despite
the infringements it commits. This is facilitated by various facts: the
national norms do not oblige companies to be accountable; the control bodies,
judges and attorneys are not independent; and the company has links to and
influence on local political powers. For these reasons, the case is presented
before the PPT.
Key issues: Infrastructure for
exploitation
Denouncing organizations: Centro de Políticas Públicas para el Socialismo – CEPPAS (Argentina), Colectivo SKAMSKA (Suecia)