Romanian PM Makes About Face In Bechtel Built Highway Issue

Politicians have a rare talent to turn white into black and the other way around, as it best suits them.

Visiting the construction work-site on a section of the highway in western Romania to be build by US constructor Bechtel, two prominent politicians just proved recently how the metamorphose could be done.

With US Ambassador Nicholas Taubman on site too, PM and head of the National Liberal Party Calin Popescu Tariceanu said "Bechtel cannot build quickly enough to meet the pace at which Romania is able to replenish the funds the company needs for the project."

This statement comes in striking contrast with previous opposite stances of the current government on the same matter.

During the presidential electoral campaign in 2004, now president Traian Basescu alluded to Bechtel officials when saying "some foreign companies’ officials came to Bucharest to take their cut for the dirty deals they struck." His words prompted a diplomatic row; his contention was that the Bechtel project was overvalued.

The center-right coalition of four parties was set to start a criminal investigation into the contract, but then dropped that idea in favor of renegotiating the contract sealed by Bechtel with the previous social-democrat government. It announced it made the contract 126 million dollars cheaper. The aggregate final costs for building the Transylvania highway are estimated to still stay at two billion dollars.

Tariceanu also said before there was no need for a new westbound highway, since that would double the one to be build with European Union money. We also were told that Bechtel completed only 2% of the work it received advance payment for.

Radu Berceanu, minister of transportation and prominent member of the Democrat Party, while accompanying Tariceanu and Taubman, could not let go the opportunity to send a few darts in the direction of Tariceanu. Berceanu said "it took a long time till the PM decided to give his stamp of approval to this highway," as if the two coalition parties had not have shared the same stance on the matter.

Fact is Romania this year has fewer kilometers of highway than last year. The Bucharest-Pitesti highway was demoted to national road status due to the extensive damage on its lanes, while the newly inaugurated section of the Bucuresti-Constanta highway is in fact a two-lane road.