Political interference will not be condoned when the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) is selecting contractors for the various recovery projects to be done during the next few years.
RDA Deputy Chairman Clarence Faulkner issued the warning last Friday during the Agency’s first official ‘invitation to tender’ forum. Persons were invited to bid for a major debris removal project to be done on Jost Van Dyke and Tortola.
Faulkner said while the RDA has been given the mandate to execute the territory’s recovery plan, it is solely responsible to develop procurement procedures and approve contracts.
“We are not central government. There is no sense going to a political figure and saying ‘see what you can do for me’,” he said.
“What is going to happen is we are going to look at every engagement, every contract, every supplier, and say, ‘do they meet the credentials that are outlined to execute this?’” he explained.
Debris Clearance
Now 10 months after the 2017 disasters, Manager of the Department of Waste Management Greg Massicote said his department has developed “a plan to remove as much debris as possible”, especially since the territory is in another hurricane season.
… more
Image: DFID (flickr)
Read more
Over the last two weeks or so, the print media have been carrying reports of another apparent irregularity in the procurement of drugs and medical supplies at the Ministry of Public Health. This time, the procurement relates to the supply of pharmaceuticals, including, 27,040 bottles of metformin 500mg tablets, 63,804 of 2% lidocaine injections, 49,303 diclofenac 1% 30g gel, 28,232 propofol 10mg/ml injections, 16,951 bottles of acetylsalicylic acid X1 tablets, and 12,392 bottles of 75mg diclofenac tablets. The supplier, HDM Labs Inc. of Island Park, New York, was chosen using the restricted method of procurement, and the contract was awarded in the amount of US$1.790 million, equivalent to G$366.9 million.
Readers will recall that in February 2017 a similar controversy erupted in the emergency procurement from ANSA McAL of $605 million in drugs and medical supplies for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Apart from a breach of the Procurement Act, there were a number of concerns about the prices of certain items supplied, compared with those charged by other pharmaceutical suppliers. In the midst of public criticisms, the GPHC’s board investigated the matter and concluded that the Chief Executive Officer acted “recklessly” in initiating the procurement but no evidence was found that the Minister of Public Health gave any instructions for the procurement procedures to be bypassed. The Public Procurement Commission (PPC) carried out its own investigation and also exonerated the Minister.
Background information about HDM Labs Inc.
… more
Image: SimonQ (flickr)
Read more
Several high priced projects executed under the last Government did not go to tender as was required.
This revelation came yesterday in the House of Assembly during the debate on the Integrity in Public Life Bill. Piloting the debate on the promised and much anticipated Bill yesterday, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Dale Marshall maintained that to prevent a repeat of such, since coming to office just over six weeks ago, they have been “drilling into the minds” of the new Cabinet Ministers that the Financial Management and Audit Rules must be followed. Further, he disclosed they have had “full dialogue” with the Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Department, to ensure that there is an understanding going forward, that Barbados intends to follow Financial Management and Audit Rules, which he explained requires a public tendering process for any contract worth more than $200,000.
“We also have to insist that the rules for Government procurement are followed and are transparent because if the rules of Government procurement are followed and are transparent then the entire process of offering a Government contract will be done under the light of day and under the bright sunshine of transparency there is little opportunity for corrupt practices to grow,” he said.
The Attorney General raised the issues, as he told the Lower House that under the previous administration a contract worth almost $20 million was awarded for the construction of high rise housing units at Valery, St. Michael without going to tender. He added that a similar situation occurred with respect to other units including those at Exmouth Gap, St. Michael.
… more
Image: sbj04769 (Pixabay)
Read more
The island’s sole water company broke its own tendering rules when it awarded a multi-million dollar contract for the leasing and purchasing of several water tankers during the 2016/2017 financial year, Auditor General Leigh Trotman has discovered.
Trotman said in his report released earlier this month, that through a public tender the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) requested bids for the acquisition, through either lease or purchase, of four tankers to assist with its water distribution efforts throughout Barbados.
He concluded that the BWA had acquired the tankers “under circumstances in which the tender process did not comply with its policies, as the contract was awarded to a company which did not meet all the necessary tender conditions”.
“The Barbados Water Authority deviated significantly from compliance with its procurement policies and procedures in the sourcing and tendering practices for the purchasing and leasing of the water tankers,” Trotman concluded, adding that “the tender process was compromised from the time the bid from firm 2, who did not meet the qualifying criteria, was examined”.
He did not name the firm involved, or either of the two other firms that submitted tenders. Only one of the three firms met the qualifying criteria for leasing and purchasing, the auditor general said.
This notwithstanding, the BWA’s evaluation committee decided to examine the proposals of the firm which met the tender conditions, as well as a firm, which he referred to as firm 2, which did not supply a lease proposal as required by the tender.
Although the recommendation was made for the BWA to award the contract to firm one, the Audit, Finance and Tenders committee requested that both firms submit revised prices by February 2015.
While firm 1 submitted a response within the required time frame and a revised price was disclosed at the board meeting on February 12, firm 2 submitted its response in a document dated March 13, 2015, with a lower bid, and ending up winning that tender, the audit found.
Notwithstanding the decision to purchase four water tankers, the BWA board was subsequently asked to approve the leasing of eight tankers from firm 2, at a monthly cost of $60,000 plus Value Added Tax for five years.
Although the approval was granted at the board meeting on November 5, 2015, the lease with the company for eight tankers had already been signed before the request went to the board.
What is more, the time period agreed for the lease of the arrangement was 63 months, three months more than what the board was asked to approve.
While the agreement would have allowed the BWA to stagger the payments over the five years, the purchasing of the tankers would have required an immediate outlay of $2.44 million.
… more
Image: Hilary Halliwell (Pexels)
Read more
Following is the full statement he made today, first delivered on radio:
Fellow Citizens, Residents and Friends of Montserrat, wherever you may be, today, 18th July 2018, marks 23 years since the Soufriere Hill volcano erupted and changed the lives of Montserratians forever.
Montserrat has been changed, yes, but thank God, not destroyed; has been down but not out.
Solomon tells us that there is a time for everything under the sun, and I firmly believe that today is a time, not to forget the past, but to let it rest for the moment, a time for me to encourage you with some positive news about the present and the future. Therefore, I shall be focusing on a number of priority projects that my government has been working on to help transform our social and economic conditions.
First of all, is the Little Bay Breakwater and Port Development Project. I am pleased to report that we have now started the procurement process for certain consultancy and supervision contracts. You have already heard the advertisement on Radio Montserrat for a Project Coordinator. This means that we are well on the way to having our first breakwater and safe harbour, the first ever safe harbour in the history of the island.
What does this mean?
It means having the capability to dock cruise vessels, luxury yachts, cargo vessels and the ferry at the same time. It means no more waiting for cement, flour or sugar because boats can’t dock. It means no more being stranded on the ferry 100 yards off Montserrat’s shore because of rough seas.
It means jobs for taxi drivers, artists, craftsmen and everyone involved in tourism. It means larger vessels and therefore cheaper freight, which should in turn have a positive impact on prices for everyone.
Then there is the Montserrat Subsea Fibre Project, which is now fully supported by DfID. We are at the stage of finalizing the tender documents with the aim of issuing an Invitation to tender within the next month, completing the evaluation of bids by the end of September and hopefully issuing a contract by the end of October.
And if everything goes according to plan, the system should Go Live by August 2019. The days of phone calls being cut because of the internet being too slow, the frustrations of trying, in vain, to watch a video online – all this will be history.
A high-speed connection will also allow us to make history as we set up the first Digi Beach to encourage tech startups in the Caribbean. My administration has already started to embrace the future of blockchain and cash being digital as we welcomed BITT to our shores.
Regarding the Geothermal Project, which has the potential to provide Montserrat with abundant, clean, renewable energy at a reasonable cost, two wells have already been dug. The completion of the third well is under negotiation between DFID and IDC drilling company. The early market engagement for the surface plant was completed and evaluated and the report is being reviewed.
We are still in active negotiations with the British Government for the completion of this project, as well as that of the new hospital.
On a smaller scale, just under two million dollars was awarded by the end of June 2018, the first quarter of this financial year, for contracts on small capital projects such as:
- the canopy cover works to the ferry terminal expansion & warehouse roof repair project,
- Margetson Home – design & build contract,
- supply of base material & aggregate
- the New Windward Sewage Facility design & build contract,
- Supply of textbooks for the public schools in Montserrat and
- the breaking down and removal of the temporary wood & steel buildings on the Government Headquarters compound.
Further, other small capital projects are being prepared for procurement. This will include Major Roof works and railing for Block C at the Brades Primary School, and other maintenance works to include resurfacing of Basketball courts, fencing and painting of school plants, etc.
And let us not overlook the countless small projects that have been completed or are underway, particularly in education, health and the environment. To name just a few…
… more
Image: RonnyK (Pixabay)
Read more
