Barbados
Minister of Environment and National Beautification Adrian Forde on Tuesday sought to clear up anomalies regarding procurement at the National Conservation Commission (NCC) report that were flagged by Auditor General Leigh Trotman
At the same time, he assured that steps were being taken to ensure that procurement laws and regulations were followed.
In a press conference at the ministry’s headquarters in Warrens, St Michael, Minister Forde told the media he had to set the record straight about some of the findings of the 2022 Auditor General Report which had been a topic of national debate.
“It is important to get the facts right and a lot of times the facts are put out there and they are distorted for whatever reason. So, I just want to come today to give Barbadians the facts as it relates to the incident that happened at the NCC and invariably speak about the Auditor General’s report. That has been on the lips of a lot of Barbadians over the last couple of days and I feel it necessary to correct some of the distortion that I see out there as it relates to the facts,” he said.
In the report, Trotman highlighted the procurement and payment for services provided to the NCC during the January 1 to December 31, 2022 period.
It was stated that a company was paid approximately $1 553 402 over a ten-month period – January to October 2022 – to perform grease trap and septic well cleaning across NCC facilities.
However, the minister explained that on December 9, 2022, he wrote to his permanent secretary about a report that was brought to him by the chairman of the NCC board. Forde said the document identified some anomalies in terms of accounting and procedures and he requested that it be sent to the Director of Finance and Economic Affairs.
He added that the permanent secretary then wrote to the Auditor General and asked that an investigation of the report be conducted.
Quoting a paragraph from Section 4 of the report, Forde said: “There was no evidence of a competitive selection process for the services by these entities and, as a result, there was no way to determine if the rates were the best value for money. For example, only one entity was used by NCC to clean grease traps and provide other cleaning services at various parks and recreational areas. This entity was paid over $300 000 between January and December 2022 for this service.”
He said a subsequent special audit of the procurement practices of the NCC was done in June 2023 and in that document, the correct figure was highlighted.
“The correct figure, based on the special audit, is $432 641. It was in the special audit report given to the ministry – a far difference from the $1.5 million that is the subject of discussion across the length of Barbados . . . ,” Forde said.
“We don’t live in a perfect world and when mistakes happen we have to admit that mistakes took place. We have to take action to ensure that it does not happen again. The trust the public puts in us, we have to ensure that there is a close connection to that trust and that there is a mandate that seeks to protect that trust.”
Forde said the NCC board of directors had introduced a series of measures in January.
“We have ensured that the requisite provisions which govern government procurement under the Public Finance Management Act are followed at all times,” he said.
“The board has begun the process of identifying a new accounting system because in the special audit, the Auditor General stated that a review of the information by the accounts’ personnel to the auditors revealed that there were a number of errors in the information presented within the board’s report [and] in some instances, records for invoices were replicated – that is, their totals were included more than once, thereby resulting in the inflated amount of $1 553 402.”
Last Friday, in an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY, NCC general manager Ryan Als challenged the Auditor General’s 2022 report stating that some of the issues and figures highlighted were incorrect such as the $1.5 million payment and the NCC using a company owned by a supervisor to assist in the national 360 cleaning programme.
Forde also supported what Als said as it relates to the cleaning programme.
Regarding the grease trap services and other cleaning the NCC does to maintain the kiosks and restaurants at some of the island’s beaches and recreational facilities, Als said a fee of around $100 was introduced last month.
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Jamaica
Member of Parliament for Manchester North Western Mikael Phillips says the tedious procurement process has resulted in delays to well-needed projects at times, causing the scope of work to be increased due to infrastructure deterioration.
“I mean the process itself is cumbersome and the rules governing procurement. You have those that are recurring budgets and those that are capital expenditures that come in the budget book,” he told the Jamaica Observer last Thursday.
Phillips pointed to the Public Investment Appraisal Branch (formerly the Public Investment Management Secretariat) (PIAB) is a branch of the Public Expenditure Division (PEX), which supports the Public Investment Management System (PIMS) by providing technical support and advice to the Public Investment Management Committee (PIMC), thereby facilitating effective pre-investment decision-making.
“With recurrent project expenditure, you know that the time frame for any project that is going to procurement is anywhere between six months to one year and it is just the guidelines that have been set out by the Ministry of Finance. With those that come through the capital, just like the Troy Bridge, has now to go through the PIAB of the Ministry of Finance,” said Phillips.
Since the Troy Bridge collapsed in August 2021, schoolchildren and other residents have been using makeshift methods, including a fallen tree and a zipline comprising a rope and bucket to cross the river. The risky makeshift footbridge connects residents in the neighbouring communities of Cowick Park in north-western Manchester to Troy in southern Trelawny. Since the bridge collapsed, residents have had to use a 15-mile alternative commute for safety.
“That [PIAB] in itself takes quite a while when you read the handbook governing that. In essence, when you have a project and let us take, for example, the $40 million that each constituency got to do some roadworks in December, it is just now that the bulk of the constituencies are seeing any work being done,” explained Phillips.
He pointed to constraints in dealing with the National Works Agency (NWA).
“Despite NWA will say that there are too many contracts that it had to prepare, but then the procurement process itself for each of these contracts took anywhere between four months going close to eight months now,” said Phillips.
Phillips, who is also Opposition spokesperson on roads and works, said the delays result in cost overruns for projects.
“When you take so long, by the time that you get those resources to do the work that needs to be done, the costs would have increased in material, labour and the scope, if it is like a wall, because the situation has got worse and then when you go to the agency they are telling you that they have no more resources,” he said.
“If there is to be any additional resources then it slows down the project,” he added.
He suggested that there is a perception that every politician is a “thief”.
“… And they start out with that in making the requirement so cumbersome that it hinders progress and just proper delivery of projects itself,” said Phillips
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Jamaica
The Government intends to amend the Procurement Act to increase the effectiveness of the country’s existing procurement system.
Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, gave details while responding to concerns from Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Planning and the Public Service, Julian Robinson, during the tabling of the Third Supplementary Estimates for the 2023/24 financial year in the House of Representatives, on September 26.
The concerns surround the capital expenditure of $66.6 billion, which represents a reduction of $8.7 billion on the prior allocation for capital programmes, and the current procurement system.
“We continue to review the Procurement Act and at some point, not too far in the future, we plan to introduce a few amendments here that can help to make that system more efficient,” Dr. Clarke said.
He emphasised, however, that persons who are responsible for using the Act must familiarise themselves with it.
“No matter what changes we make, we have to ensure that persons who are responsible for using the Act are familiar with it. A big part of the problem sometimes is that people go all the way down the wicket and then realise that they didn’t do it in the way they ought to, and so it has to be done again and that’s where, frustrating as it is, delays can come from, so I absolutely share your concern,” Dr. Clarke said.
The Minister argued that the need for greater levels of training is critical in the use of the Act.
“We have to redouble our efforts in training Procurement Officers in the use of the Procurement Act. There is a lot in there that can allow for accelerated performance of capital projects,” he added.
The Minister pointed out that the reduction in the Capital Expenditure “does not represent any project that is being canned; the reduction comes from the contingency provision in the capital expenditure envelope”.
Meanwhile, he said new instructions have been given for projects that would fit the description of “emergency” under the Public Investment Management System (PIMS).
“Projects that would fit the description of an emergency, whether from natural disaster or from a project that if not done could mean immediate liability for the Government… the procedures that are required for the public investment process will be significantly scaled down, such that the time involved would be significantly reduced,” the Minister explained.
“I promised it and we have delivered it. Madam Speaker, in August this year, the instructions went out to all ministries, departments and agencies for new projects, so it’s a new arrangement for emergency projects,” he added.
PIMS aims to streamline the preparation, appraisal, approval and management of all government projects.
The Third Supplementary Estimates provide for total expenditure of $1.094 trillion, which is an increase of $58.2 billion over the Second Supplementary Estimates.
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Trinidad and Tobago
Three years after the Government referred a complaint against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan over a multimillion-dollar contract for ambulance services, the Integrity Commission has said it cannot provide a time frame for the conclusion of its investigation of the complaint.
The complaint was referred to the commission on September 9, 2020.
But repeated requests by the Ministry of Finance for information on the status of the investigation, as well as a time frame for its completion, have produced a response by the Integrity Commission that it cannot give a time frame.
The matter arose following an investigation conducted by a Cabinet-appointed team into the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of an award of a contract to Medavie EMS, a Canadian company, to manage the 24-hour ambulance service.
The contract was first awarded through competitive tender by the Central Tenders Board (CTB) by letter dated September 8, 2011.
After the cancellation, a subsequent contract for $630.2 million was given, via a sole selective tender, to Global Medical Response of Trinidad and Tobago (GMRTT), which was previously successful when it tendered for the contract for a five-year period starting September 1, 2015, on the eve of the general election on September 7, 2015.
GMRTT is a joint venture between Amalgamated Security Services and American Medical Response, a North American provider of ambulance and emergency medical services.
The People’s National Movement (PNM) cabinet on July 13, 2017, agreed to the appointment of a team to investigate the process which led to the cancellation of the contract with Medavie and the eventual award to GMRTT.
The original two-member investigation team comprised (retired judge) Paula-Mae Weekes and Claire Gomez-Miller, an auditor.
Weekes was elected president of the country on January 19, 2018, and assumed office on March 19, 2018.
The Cabinet replaced her with Sandra Jones, a former permanent secretary (PS) to the prime minister and former head of the Public Service, who had also been a former PS in the Ministry of Health.
The Jones-led team submitted its final report to the Ministry of Finance on July 17, 2020, and the matter was referred to the Integrity Commission on September 9, 2020.
CTB’s procurement process ‘frustrated
The investigative report obtained by the Sunday Express concluded that all parties functioned within their roles and responsibilities, except for the then-attorney general (Ramlogan) who undertook to review the decision of the Central Tenders Board to award the contract initially to Medavie.
The then-AG directed the suspension of the CTB’s award and that subsequently “frustrated the CTB’s procurement process by withholding his findings and opinion”.
The Jones-led investigation team said it found no evidence of irregularities within the CTB’s tender process when it awarded the contract to Medavie and, therefore it concluded that “in the absence of any evidence to the contrary…the alleged complaint of irregularities (which Ramlogan had presented as the reason for his three-year-plus review) was baseless…and was made with the intent of subverting the award of the contract to Medavie.
“The (former) AG, deliberately or otherwise, failed to expedite and close the complaint thereby also subverting the award of contract to Medavie and giving all benefits to the unsuccessful bidder, GMRTT.
The team concluded that the (former) AG’s procrastination with his review, which started from October 2011, “deliberate or otherwise”, caused:
1. CTB in October 2014 (three years after his review started) to cancel the award given to Medavie
2. The AG’s “procrastination” also resulted in GMRTT, the twice unsuccessful bidder, to unfairly benefit through continued month-to-month contracts for approximately four years from October 2011 when the AG started his review to September 1, 2015, when GMRTT received a ($630 million) five-year contract,
3. It (the “procrastination”) also led to GMRTT to gain a five-year contract from September 1, 2015, to August 31, 2020, as a sole selective bidder and without Medavie being allowed to contest the bid
4. Lastly, it caused Medavie to be unfairly and unethically treated, with no grounds nor reason, without transparency, and without compensation for costs incurred post the award of contract.
“The Investigation Team found that as a direct consequence of his (Ramlogan’s) actions or lack thereof, the AG had caused CTB’s procurement process to be brought into disrepute, and the nation of Trinidad and Tobago to be seen internationally as a country with corrupt tendering practices,” the team concluded.
The report added: “The Attorney General by virtue of the power of his office and position in the Government was the major contributor to the subversion of the tendering process being conducted by the CTB,” the report stated.
Background
On October 11, 2011, the then-minister of health (Dr Fuad Khan) informed the permanent secretary in the ministry that the contract, which had been awarded to Medavie for the operation of the ambulance service, was due to be signed soon.
However the then-attorney general “in a verbal request” asked that the Ministry of Health delay the signing of the contract, pending his perusal of the contract and files.
The ministry complied with his request, even though it came at the time the CTB’s tender process had already advanced to the finalisation of the contract with the preferred service provider, Medavie.
In explaining the reason for his request, Ramlogan, in a letter dated October 12, 2011, to the minister of health, indicated that party/parties unnamed requested his review of the process “in the interest of transparency, consistent with the integrity of fairness in public life”.
Ramlogan, however, in a subsequent letter on November 9, 2011, to the PS in the Ministry of Health, stated that the review was based on a verbal request made to him by Khan.
Khan refuted this claim that he had instigated the AG’s review in a letter dated November 11, 2011, to Ramlogan, in which he stated: “I wish to unequivocally state that at no point in time, either verbally or in writing, did I seek your advice on the captioned contract.”
The investigation team said it found that the AG’s review was driven by an unidentified source who sought to have the process reviewed by him because of “certain allegations being made about the tender process”. The investigation team said it sought information on this complainant, via a questionnaire, but received none.
The report of the investigation team indicated that interviews and records confirmed that the Ministry of Health repeatedly made requests to Ramlogan to provide his opinion over the three-year period (between October 2011 to August 2014) when the Health Ministry “in frustration” terminated the tender process.
The report of the investigation team said there was no evidence that the then-AG acceded to the Ministry of Health’s requests for his opinion.
Cabinet was complicit
The investigation report found that the cabinet was complicit in the “unfounded delay and frustration of the contract” which had been awarded to Medavie.
GMRTT had received a three-year contract (2005-2008) under the Manning government.
But it was rejected for a further contract by the Central Tenders Board, first in April 2010 and again in September 2011, when Medavie Emergency Medical Service Inc of Canada was recommended by CTB.
However, because of the review being done by Ramlogan, GMRTT continued to be retained on a month-to-month basis, “benefitting directly both from the AG’s decision to instruct the delay of the signing of the contract with Medavie and his failure to complete (his review) or terminate his intervention.
“By the end of 2013, GMRTT had received an extension of 63 months (five years and three months), despite the fact that it had been an unsuccessful bidder in 2009 and again in 2011.”
The cabinet, in February 2013, despite the fact that it was aware that CTB had awarded the contract to Medavie EMS, agreed to the continuation of GMRTT’s month-to-month contract “with no caveat”.
By the end of 2014, GMRTT had received an extension of 75 months (six years and three months) to its 2005/2008 contract.
By August 22, 2014, the acting PS in the Health Ministry, Lydia Jacobs, in a letter to the director of contracts at the Central Tenders Board, indicated the ministry was no longer interested in executing the contract with Medavie and that the process should be aborted.
“CTB was asked to terminate the contract because of the lapse of time and in the absence of direction from the then AG,” the report stated. The director of contracts, CTB, by letters dated October 24, 2014, then informed Medavie and GMRTT that the Ministry of Health had advised that “due to circumstances beyond its control and the lapse of time, it is no longer interested in pursuing the project”.
Medavie was informed that the award given by letter dated September 8, 2011, to move to the stage of signing the contract was cancelled.
On February 15, 2015, the then-minister of finance approved the Ministry of Health’s request to have the tender for the National Emergency Services be done through a sole selection process, and on April 16, 2015, CTB issued its letter of award to GMRTT.
On August 13, GMRTT entered into a five-year contract for the period September 1, 2015, to August 31, 2020.
The contract sum was $630.2 million, representing $548 million, plus VAT of $82.2 million.
The report noted that in the final analysis, the unsuccessful bidder in the end was successful.
“The twice unsuccessful bidder GMRTT had received an extension of nearly seven years to its 2005/2008 contract plus a lucrative $630.2 million five-year contract by 2015 to the detriment of the successful 2011 bidder Medavie,” the report stated.
GMRTT continues to provide the ambulance service up to today.
Medavie, Canadian High Commissioner expressed concerns
During the review period, the high commissioner of Canada, by letter dated October 27, 2011, queried the delay in the execution of the contract between the Ministry of Health and Medavie.
“We were recently concerned to read a report in one of the Trinidad and Tobago newspapers alluding to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago’s plans to review this award (to Medavie). At the same time, we heard from the company that communications with your ministry (ie, MoH) had ceased, without explanation. I would be appreciative, Minister, of your assurance that a transparent procedure has been integral to this procurement process and that the preferred bidder has been, or will be, advised appropriately of any concerns and (will be) offered formally the opportunity to respond and thereafter continue with contract negotiations,” the high commissioner of Canada stated.
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