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Zakhem International Construction Limited has threatened to initiate a legal action against former UK Envoy, Mr. Craig Murray, if he fails to retract an article he published about the company on the internet and unconditionally apologise for the damage he has caused to the former's reputation by the publication. The company also referred to some specific interviews Mr. Murray granted to some radio stations in which he was said to have made some "FALSE AND DEFAMATORY" statements about the company and its Kpone Thermal Power Project (KTPP). Zakhem said yesterday in a statement that "we are aware that Mr. Murray considers himself to be a 'campaigner' in respect of certain issues, but sadly on this occasion, he has gone too far. We should make it clear that we do not, have not and will not engage in any form of corruption in respect our interest in KTPP, or any other project in Ghana or elsewhere. These are wild unfounded allegations". According to the company, Mr. Murray's assertions are "very serious and deeply damaging allegations which have no foundation in facts" adding that "we have no alternative but to address Mr. Murray's factual inaccuracies in his report and set the record straight". Mr. Murray, singing his own praise in one of his numerous articles said that "It is not that the government is not honouring existing contracts. I am Chairman of several companies, including Atholl Energy. Atholl had a contract with the NPP government which has been honoured by the NDC government, because we carry our work diligently and honestly. The problem is that where contracts are not honest, action has not been fast enough or decisive enough to root out corruption". Citing instances to buttress his point, Mr. Murray stated categorically that "Two of the worst examples are in the energy sector. Let us look at the case of another British company, Zakhem International Ltd. They are building the Kpone Power Project for VRA. VRA bought the turbines from the manufacturer, Alsthom for US $70 million. They then paid Zakhem US $80 million upfront to install them and provide the ancillary equipment". According to him after three years, the Ghanaian taxpayers have nothing to show for their US $150 million. "Absolutely nothing. An empty field at Kpone, surrounded by Ghana's longest concrete wall so the Ghanaian public cannot see that their money has been stolen," he added. The former UK Ambassador asserted that "nothing has happened about it because Zakhem and their Ghanaian partners have stolen enough money to bribe all the officials involved and are now claiming around town that the new government is also in their pocket". He went on to allege that most of the $80 million has vanished forever, while the $70 million turbines are also badly damaged by disuse. Setting the records straight, Zakhem explained that "the contract relating to the KTPP (dated 27th October 2007) was entered into between Zakhem International Construction (Ghana) Ltd. (now known as Zakhem Construction Ghana Ltd.), a Ghanaian Company and not a British company, (the "Contractor") and the Government of Ghana, acting by the Ministry of Energy (the "Client")". According to the company, the signing of the Contract came after a tendering process that included prequalification, financial proposals and a lengthy pre-contract negotiation, explaining further that "the Volta River Authority (the "VRA") is acting in the capacity of the Employers Representative, and is currently administrating the Contract as such. Touching on the amount of money involved in the agreement, the statement said the total original Contract Value is 65,500,000 Euros (the approximate dollar equivalent is US$91,000,000), Out of which, approximately US$39,500,000 has been paid to the Contractor. The statement went on to disclose that the relevant progress certificates have been approved [by VRA], without any queries either from the Client or the VRA, that the company has defaulted on any clause or deliverable. Although the original project duration was 18 months, the company explained that since the start of the project there has been substantial delay due to changes in the scope of work, delays in payment and the relocation of actual site from its original site. "In the first quarter of 2009 VRA informed the contractor that there was no funding to complete the project and that until such time that funding was made available the contractor was to suspend works. To date, the financing has yet to be secured to continue with this project," Zakhem voiced out. On the turbines, Zakhem explained that it had nothing to do with how they were purchased, since the client itself took care of the purchasing and the delivery. To date the company says its progress includes: "mobilization, which is 100 % complete, detailed engineering and design, which is 70% complete, temporary buildings and services including all storage facilities and administration facilities for Client and Contractor and also purchase of long lead items, such as exhaust stacks, transformers, steel tanks and generator circuit breakers". "These are the facts and show that Mr. Murray is misinformed and misguided. As a good corporate citizen, we cannot allow Mr. Murray to continue to publish deliberate falsehoods," the statement said.