Guyana
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday stated that the strengthening of the procurement system will be continuing in the form of a countrywide prequalifying system allowing the Cabinet to have a full picture about companies bidding for projects.
Homing in on the procurement process at his weekly press conference yesterday following an editorial in Monday’s Stabroek News which said in part that “Yet again, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) has been found flagrantly violating guidelines for the award of contracts”, Jagdeo said, thousands of contracts are being carried out around the country in the various sectors due to the transformation that is currently ongoing countrywide.
However, he said, that these contracts when completed on time to the benefit of citizens are never focused on instead there seems to be a bias now to focus on a few contracts “the few that may have some issue and make that seem as the prevailing condition.”
This, he said, was something his party faced in the 2015 period as well “when they tried to characterize the People’s Progressive Party as being corrupt and so they are at it again.”
Noting the contents of the Stabroek News editorial, Jagdeo said that he had never seen such a strong position under APNU+AFC’s five years “when there was practically no public tender, when ministers were directly involved in their ministries in giving themselves contracts, there were no public tenders, there was no document to evaluate, there was no evaluation, there was no paper trail so you can’t investigate anything.”
However, he pointed out that for the contracts being highlighted now there is a paper trail, process, and documents to support “every single one of them.”
Notwithstanding this, Jagdeo said that the last thing he would do is put his “neck on the block for evaluators or the probity of every contract in this country”, stressing that “we remain open to ensuring that the process grows in terms of transparency and that we can weed out people who are engaged in corrupt practices.”
According to him, this was done on “several occasions” where they have seen the growth of the system.
Stabroek News’ editorial had noted that one of the tender board’s evaluation committees was found to have awarded a $2.1b Guyana Defence Force (GDF) project to Kares Engineering Inc over a better bidder.
NPTAB
Facing criticism over the award of the GDF project to Kares Inc, the NPTAB yesterday said that the evaluation criterion at the centre of the dispute had been “discontinued years ago” although nobody seemed to have been aware of this.
In recent months, the NPTAB and its evaluation committees have come under close scrutiny over a series of irregular practices which raised concerns about corruption.
After a complaint by Correia and Correia, the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) investigated the natter and found that the award to Kares Inc did not indeed go to the lowest responsive bidder. It also said that the evaluation committee was bound to follow the structure that no bidder below 80% of the engineer’s estimate should be deemed responsive. Despite this, Kares was deemed the winner though the bids of Correia and Correia and S Jagmohan were better.
NPTAB in its statement yesterday said that it had noted the Stabroek News report `GDF $2.1b wharf contract improperly awarded to Kares” dated June 23rd, 2024.
It said that “The Guyana Defence Force advertised for the construction of a Coast Guard reinforced concrete wharf at Ruimveldt and bids were received via public tendering in November 2023. Subsequently bids were evaluated by an independent evaluation committee. The evaluators recommended the lowest responsive bidder and an award was made in December 2023. The contract award for the aforementioned project was published in January 2024 and the Government of Guyana entered into a contract in February 2024, with the bidder who submitted the lowest evaluated bid, which is also the lowest overall bid.”
According to the NPTAB , in March 2024, Correia & Correia Ltd submitted a request for review citing “Any bidder whose bid is less than 80 percent of the engineer’s estimate will be non-responsive”.
The NPTAB said, that it must be noted “that this Engineer’s Estimate was never published or given to the bidders prior to the opening of bids. It must be noted that the criteria cited was discontinued years ago and is not included in the numbered criteria in the approved Standard Bidding Document. Further, any modifications to the criteria in the Standard Bidding Document require prior approval from NPTAB in accordance with Section 23 (3) of the Procurement Act 2003. Additionally, please be advised that the complaint does not align with Section 52 of the Procurement Act 2003.”
It seems that NPTAB is the only party in the process who is aware that this 80% benchmark has been discontinued.
(Table of bids from the Department of Public Information)
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Jamaica
The government has announced that five companies have been shortlisted to bid on the multi-billion-dollar road rehabilitation programme, known as SPARK.
Minister with responsibility for Works, Robert Morgan, says the National Works Agency recently completed the pre-qualification stage of the International Competitive Bidding process.
Minister Morgan says eight companies, including two construction firms from Jamaica, responded to the bid.
“So far, five international companies have been successful at the pre-qualification stage, and this week, we will be sending out bid proposals to those five pre-qualified enterprise construction companies. These proposals will be for them to bid on the four packages that are across the island. And we expect those bid proposals to be returned by mid August and then we will seek approval from the Public Procurement Commission as well as Cabinet to award contracts by the end of September this year,” he disclosed while speaking during Wednesday’s post Cabinet press briefing.
The five successful bidders are Sinohydro Corporation, China Harbour Engineering Company, Municipal Enterprises of Canada, the UK’s Lagan Aviation and Infrastructure and VINCI Construction Grands Projects out of France.
The Works Minister said, though it is expected that an international company will be the successful bidder, a local company must be involved in the implementation, in keeping with the project arrangement.
Minister Morgan said the contracts are for two years, with an additional year for defects liabilities as well as corrective works in the event of challenges with the completed works.
Priority list
He added that a priority list of roads has been developed in several constituencies, based on the current consultations.
So far, there have been 24 meetings across 21 constituencies to identify the thoroughfares that are in need of attention.
Mr. Morgan said the target roads are being assessed.
“We have also sent a list to the National Water Commission to determine the needs and status of waterlines on these roads and preliminary costs will be shared with the CDF (Constituency Development Fund) to determine the final priority list per constituency for the initial $1 million allocation.
“So it is split into two for the first year – $150 million for members of Parliament and constituencies based on the consultation, which is about $10 billion and then another $10 billion in the first year for NWA roads, roads that are main roads but are not community roads. And in that vein, the NWA has selected 60 main roads for implementation in this project and these roads will pass through every constituency in keeping with the policy mandate of the SPARK project,” he outlined.
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Trinidad and Tobago
The Joint Consultative Council (JCC) is concerned about Procurement Regulator Beverly Khan’s failure to issue an annual report as required by section 24 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, which was operationalised in April last year.
In a press release on Monday, the council, through its president Fazir Khan, shared its concern, while also saying this was important given Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s projected $9 billion deficit.
In a June 4 press release, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – which welcomed Trinidad and Tobago’s sustained economic recovery – commended the proclaimed Procurement Act, which it said “should help improve the efficiency of public spending.”
The council’s release said the independent report should have been submitted to Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George, Senate president Nigel de Freitas and Imbert in December 2023.
It added that eight items were to be included in that report, including a figure representing the total value of contracts awarded by public bodies, another representing the cost of the total value of procurement-contract variances for 2023 and the number of unfulfilled contracts awarded by public bodies in respect of procurement.
Other items to be included were a summary of public procurement transactions for each public body, including subsections with the number of procurement contracts awarded; the number of procurement contracts varied; the quantum of those variances; number of unfulfilled procurement contracts and cost incurred; a brief description of the projects for procurement, the awardees, the value, scope of works and the expected deliverables of projects,as well as the lessons learnt from the management of procurement contracts.
The report also should have included the names of public bodies failing to comply with the act, an assessment of the overall performance of the procurement system and a summary of unresolved issues to be addressed as well as recommendations needing action on the part of the procuring entity.
The release said that report would have supplied critical data and information to Parliament and the public.
“Only then can any assessment of the efficacy of the new legislation be determined and adjustments can be made.
“This is even more dire at this time, when the 2024 mid-year budget review presented by the Finance Minister now projects a $9 billion deficit. Procurement reform is supposed to eventually realise savings in the vicinity of $4 billion-$5 billion annually.”
The council said it indicated to Khan that about 80 per cent of expenditure in public procurement was spent by only ten per cent of the approximately 400 public entities.
So, it said, “The Office of the Procurement Regulation, OPR) can concentrate their resources on the fewer large spenders in order to have the largest positive impact soonest.”
The release said a dangerous precedent was being set by the OPR in not issuing the report, which did not instil confidence in the public. It added that it sent a bad message to procuring entities that it was “business as usual.”
“We therefore urge the OPR to issue the annual report in compliance with section 24 of the Procurement Act, immediately,” it said.
Checks to the OPR’s website showed a 2023-2025 strategic plan with former regulator Moonilal Lalchan listed as its chairman among more recent reports. There are seven reports on the OPR’s website.
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Britsih Virgin Islands
As the BVI continues to deal with another round of battering on roadways across the territory, former Speaker of the House of Assembly Julian Willock has called for the government to improve the Procurement Act so roadways can be fixed in a timely manner.
Within the last 48 hours, the territory experienced more than four inches of rain that has further gutted roads and damaged utility infrastructure in several communities.
Willock, who has been speaking on issues affecting the Third District, made a Facebook post which said the district has been hit hard with heavy flooding at Pockwood Pond, blockage of the Ghut in Nibbs Estate, and heavy debris on the roadways in many areas throughout the community.
Willock also used the opportunity to call for improvements in the Procurement Act, which dictates how the government hires contractors for projects, including emergency road repairs needed after heavy rains.
“I know both our District Representative, Honourable [Julian] Fraser, and the entire government is aware that another look needs to be taken at the Procurement Act to bring much more flexibility to works before, during and after these kinds of disasters,” Willock said. “It’s not possible/practical in most instances to get three estimates when homes, businesses, roads and lives are at risk and have to remain so while the wheels of government turn slowly.”
The 2021 Commission of Inquiry (COI) report found that there was no public tendering in roughly two-thirds of government contracts issued between January 2019 and April 2021.
The law has since been changed to make procurement more transparent, but legislators have been complaining about it since then, saying the new law makes it harder to get vital projects completed, further adding to the frustrations of the general public.
Recently, D8 Representative Marlon Penn has bemoaned the cumbersome procurement process used by the government, stating that there is a growing number of businesses that are choosing to not work with the government.
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Jamaica
The government has announced that five companies have been shortlisted to bid on the multi-billion-dollar road rehabilitation programme, known as SPARK.
Minister with responsibility for Works, Robert Morgan, says the National Works Agency recently completed the pre-qualification stage of the International Competitive Bidding process.
Minister Morgan says eight companies, including two construction firms from Jamaica, responded to the bid.
“So far, five international companies have been successful at the pre-qualification stage, and this week, we will be sending out bid proposals to those five pre-qualified enterprise construction companies. These proposals will be for them to bid on the four packages that are across the island. And we expect those bid proposals to be returned by mid August and then we will seek approval from the Public Procurement Commission as well as Cabinet to award contracts by the end of September this year,” he disclosed while speaking during Wednesday’s post Cabinet press briefing.
The five successful bidders are Sinohydro Corporation, China Harbour Engineering Company, Municipal Enterprises of Canada, the UK’s Lagan Aviation and Infrastructure and VINCI Construction Grands Projects out of France.
The Works Minister said, though it is expected that an international company will be the successful bidder, a local company must be involved in the implementation, in keeping with the project arrangement.
Minister Morgan said the contracts are for two years, with an additional year for defects liabilities as well as corrective works in the event of challenges with the completed works.
Priority list
He added that a priority list of roads has been developed in several constituencies, based on the current consultations.
So far, there have been 24 meetings across 21 constituencies to identify the thoroughfares that are in need of attention.
Mr. Morgan said the target roads are being assessed.
“We have also sent a list to the National Water Commission to determine the needs and status of waterlines on these roads and preliminary costs will be shared with the CDF (Constituency Development Fund) to determine the final priority list per constituency for the initial $1 million allocation.
“So it is split into two for the first year – $150 million for members of Parliament and constituencies based on the consultation, which is about $10 billion and then another $10 billion in the first year for NWA roads, roads that are main roads but are not community roads. And in that vein, the NWA has selected 60 main roads for implementation in this project and these roads will pass through every constituency in keeping with the policy mandate of the SPARK project,” he outlined.
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