The national stadium of Grenada

The Chinese company that built Grenada's national stadium is under investigation by the Customs Department for alleged corrupt practices.

The Customs Department has started a probe into reports that the Chinese firm diverted construction material from the stadium project to a private building that it erected at Woodlands, St. George's.

According to a source close to the investigating team, the Customs have a number of documents in their possession showing that material that remained from the stadium project that came in duty-free were taken down to the site of the so-called "hotel" project in the south of the island.

"We also have entries (submitted by Brokers) showing that other material that were imported for the sole use of the stadium went to that other project", said a source who asked not to be named. The Customs Department has already met with officials of the Physical Planning Unit (PPU) of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Works to ascertain the nature of the building permit that was granted to the Chinese for the structure at Woodlands.

In addition, the government department has been questioning a Customs Broker about a container of items currently on the St. George's Port that is consigned to the Chinese firm. The source said that the documents accompanying the container indicated that the contents "are for the sole use of the national stadium".

The items in the container brought in by the Chinese construction firm include television sets and several telephones allegedly for use at the "hotel" project at Woodlands. There are unconfirmed reports that since the intervention by Customs with the container, the Chinese firm has approached the state-run Grenada Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) seeking concession on the imported items.

The source said that the probe conducted by Customs has so far revealed that the Chinese firm was apparently given the go-ahead by Physical Planning to construct "a hostel" to accommodate its workers on the island but the Asian company is in fact building a hotel on the land.

An official at the Chinese Embassy in Grenada confirmed to this newspaper that the private sector firm is building a "hotel" for use by the general public with some "office space" for its construction firm at Woodlands. If found guilty, the Chinese firm could face a hefty fine from the Customs Department running into millions of dollars.

Last year, the Customs Department seized a container of goods that was brought in by another Chinese company that included the contaminated and banned Colgate Toothpaste product. The Chinese have been coming into the Spice Isle in increasing numbers following the decision of the Keith Mitchell-led New National Party (NNP) government to end ties with the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan in 2005 in favour of Mainland China.

The crackdown on the Chinese firm by the Customs Department could overshadow celebrations planned this weekend to mark the Third Anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between St. George's and Beijing.

Dr. Mitchell's regime was lured by a more lucrative offer made by Mainland China which included rebuilding the hurricane-devastated Sporting stadium at Queen's Park.