Incoming Indiana Governor Mike Pence in a statement Feb. 1 said that he made the decision to suspend state support for the nitrogen plant by the Fatima Group in Posey County (GM Feb. 4, p. 13) shortly after his inauguration Jan. 14. Pence said he instructed the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC) to halt the project with the Midwest Fertilizer Corp. of the Fatima Group pending further investigation. The action came immediately after the governor learned that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) considered Fatima less than cooperative with the department’s efforts to eliminate improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Central and South Asia.
"Economic development is important, but the safety and security of our troops in harm’s way is more important," said Pence. "We’re in the process of making a careful evaluation of the appropriateness of Indiana’s involvement in this project with those priorities in mind."
The IEDC informed Fatima of the project’s deferment via a letter dated Jan. 15, 2013. The state also began actively investigating the situation in consultation with federal authorities and the DOD at that time. Despite this notice to Fatima by the IEDC, the company on Jan. 31 notified the Karachi Stock Exchange about its participation in the project.
"When Fatima initially approached the IEDC with their plans to create hundreds of new jobs and invest more than $1 billion in Indiana, we were thrilled,” said Eric Doden, IEDC president. “At the time, the DOD described the company’s level of cooperation addressing issues as supportive. However, as soon as we learned of the DOD’s significant change in position, the state paused the project until a thorough investigation can be completed."
Fatima is not currently listed on the federal government’s banned Entity List, and its executives are not prevented from travel to the U.S.
On Jan. 12, the IEDC learned that the DOD’s position had changed dramatically. The IEDC was informed of recent testimony from Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, the director of the DOD’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, before a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he testified that Fatima was less than cooperative with the department’s efforts in the region.
The Ports of Indiana and the Indiana Finance Authority have also been involved in the project, with the latter issuing some $1.26 billion in Midwestern Disaster Area Bonds to help finance the project (GM Dec. 17, 2012, p. 1).
Fatima last week told the Pakistani press that the charges in the U.S. were “baseless and damaging.” The company noted, as Lt. General Barbero had indicated, that Fatima has cooperated on some distribution measures. The main sticking point with Barbero was Fatima’s refusal to dye the product. However, Fatima said the government of Pakistan did not agree to that, so it was beyond Fatima’s control.
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), a leader in trying to stop IEDs, also recently weighed in on the matter. Hunter was quoted in The Washington Times as calling Fatima a “pseudo-terrorist organization that won’t comply with any of our requests.” He termed their being allowed to move into the American market and have tax exempt advantages as “absolutely nuts.”