Guyana
Amid criticisms of it, the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) is inviting persons aggrieved over the award of any government contract to lodge a formal complaint so as to trigger an administrative review.
“Dissatisfied with the rejection of your bid? Lodge a complaint for an administrative review,” a notice in the state-owned Sunday Chronicle said.
The PPC pointed out that this country’s procurement laws provide for a review by it, should the complainant make their dissatisfaction known though a formal process within a specified period.
“The Procurement Act, Cap73:05 provides that a bidder whose tender or proposal has been rejected may submit a written protest to the procuring entity,” the PPC explained,
“The protest must be submitted within five business days following the publication of the contract award decision. If the protest is not reviewed or the bidder is dissatisfied with the review, the bidder may submit a request for a review within three working days to the Public Procurement Commission. Decisions on the review are final and binding on the procuring entity,” the Commission also noted.
Meanwhile, in a separate notice in the Sunday Chronicle on the issue of Debarment of Suppliers or Contractors, the PPC said that it is mandated by law, Cap 73:05 of the Procurement Act to adjudicate proceedings to debar.
“A procuring entity or any other person may submit a proposal in writing to the Public Procurement Commission for the debarment of a supplier or contractor. A debarment period may be for a minimum of one (1) year but no more than 10 years,” the PPC stated.
On debarment, it pointed out that “a procuring entity shall not solicit or accept bids, proposals or quotations from a debarred supplier or contractor, nor consider bonds, proposals or quotations submitted by a debarred supplier or contractor prior to the debarment. A debarred contractor or supplier may apply to the PPC for a reduction in the duration of the debarment period or its termination. “
Facing criticisms that it was not discharging its functions, the PPC had on April 24 of this year said that several complaints before it were “under active consideration”. The statement had come on the heels of a blistering from the Alliance For Change (AFC) that the procurement body was not doing its work.
AFC Parliamentarian David Patterson had blasted the PPC for spending taxpayers’ money but not executing its constitutionally enshrined functions and addressing complaints. He also expressed bewilderment that the PPC was seeking legal advice on its functioning despite the fact that a previous commission operated under the current provisions.
Patterson had said on April 21st this year that complaints were raised on the award of the following:
– Eight contracts awarded to V. Dalip Enterprise, by the Regional Democratic Council, Region #9, totalling $106.8M. This contractor had been debarred by the PPC in November 2019 until December 2030. These awards were also flagged in the Auditor General’s report of 2021.
– A contract awarded to V. Dalip Enterprise for the four-lane Highway from Eccles to Great Diamond, by the Central Housing and Planning Authority, totalling $890M, this Contractor as mentioned before was previously debarred by the PPC.
– A contract awarded to St8ment Investment Inc. for the construction of the Bamia/Amelia’s Ward Primary School by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. Patterson said that public records showed that this company was established only eight months prior to the award, bringing into question if the company would have met the technical criteria as set out in NPTAB’s Standard Bidding Docu-ments.
Patterson had also said that he had been unofficially informed that the commission, after being dissatisfied with internal legal advice, was in the process of seeking the following legal advice from external sources: – To determine if the commission can execute any of its functions listed in the Constitution, which is the supreme law of this country.
– To determine if the commission can carry out any investigation into any breaches which occurred before being sworn in, in July 2022.
– To determine, if only suppliers or contractors directly associated with a specific contract can request investigation not members of the public.
“This is a bizarre and unorthodox position since a Member of Parliament previously brought a complaint regarding the Demerara Harbour Bridge feasibility study, which the PPC investigated,” Patterson said.
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Trinidad and Tobago
The Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) will host its highly anticipated 2023 Engineering and Procurement Conference and Exhibition from July 23rd to 27th at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad and Tobago.
The Association is pleased to announce that this year’s engineering conference is being hosted alongside its Utility Member, Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) and Independent Power Producer (IPP) Member, Power Generation Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Powergen).
CARILEC is confident that this conference will add tremendous value to all attendees, particularly with the support and assistance of its esteemed members.
Under the theme, “Powering Transition in the Caribbean Energy Sector through Smart Designs, Efficient Procurement and Effective Design”, this event will focus on innovative approaches and solutions to the challenges currently faced in the development of future power generation in the region.
The Opening Ceremony of the Conference and Exhibition will feature a distinguished keynote address by Dr Sanjay Garth Bahadoorsingh, a senior lecturer in Energy Systems and Electrical Power Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of the WestIndies (UWI), St. Augustine.
Dr Bahadoorsingh holds a B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UWI, an M.Sc. in Power Systems Engineering and Economics from The University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology (UMIST) and a PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from The University of Manchester (UoM).
He is the Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards National Technical Committee:
Electrical Codes, and President of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) National Electrotechnical Committee Affiliate Country Programme for Trinidad and Tobago. Dr Bahadoorsingh has also served as the Assistant Chief Examiner for CXC’s CAPE Electrical and Electronic Technology and the Chairman of the Electric Vehicle Working Group at the Government Electrical Inspectorate (GEI).
CARILEC is elated to have Dr Bahadoorsingh deliver the keynote address at this year’s conference and is assured that his perspective on the conference theme and other relevant industry topics will be quite impactful to all attendees.
CARILEC’s 2023 Engineering and Procurement Conference will deliver a comprehensive agenda which will impart very pertinent knowledge to attendees, particularly on trending topics within the electric utility engineering and procurement areas.
These topics include Sustainable Energy Transformation, Energy Market Integration, Beyond Net Metering: The Virtual Power Plant, and Algorithms for Distribution Feeder Deployment, to name a few. Moreover, the Conference will also comprise of a post-training workshop with a focus on procurement in the electric energy sector.
CARILEC has recognized the value of bespoke training to its members and partners and has incorporated this aspect into this event.
Learning and development, knowledge sharing, and capacity building remain core aspects of CARILEC’s mandate in the electric energy sector and the upcoming Conference will certainly execute in this regard.
This event would not have been possible without the invaluable support and assistance of the Association’s generous sponsors. The CARILEC Team wishes to acknowledge its Platinum Sponsor:
Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation
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Births Virgin Islands
Minister for Health and Social Development Honourable Vincent O. Wheatley is featured with representatives from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)/ Pool Procurement Services (PPS). The representatives visited the Virgin Islands from July 4 to 5 to discuss ongoing pooled procurement of Health Commodities (Medical Products and Laboratory Supplies), and the proposed expansion of products for pooled procurement (Dialysis, Dental and Assistive Supplies).
Discussions were also held on the upcoming Policy Board meeting that will be held in the Virgin Islands in October 2023. Honourable Wheatley was also presented with a book titled “Asthma Fun Facts for Parents & Kids 6 Years to 11 Years” by local authors Mrs. Gracia Wheatley-Smith and Miss Kenya Jeffers.
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Cayman Islands
The suggestion that Cayman doesn’t have room to accommodate enough solar panels or wind turbines to generate all of its power from renewables has been debunked in the government’s new draft National Energy Policy. The revised policy, which is even more ambitious than the last one, has a target of generating 100% of our power from green resources by 2050 and 30% by 2030. While it has been established that Cayman has the capacity to adapt to a greener future, it now needs to pick up the pace.
According to the draft NEP, in order to meet the 100% renewable energy target by 2050, the Cayman Islands will have to have solar panels on rooftops, car parks and old quarries in addition to utility-sized solar farms and also review the exclusion zones to develop wind farms.
CUC is currently buying energy from just one utility solar farm in Bodden Town, which generates just 5MW of electricity. The project, built by Entropy Cayman Solar Ltd, was plagued with problems and sold in 2019. Since then, CUC has begun work on a battery installation and last year OfReg began a procurement exercise for a 23MW plant, but there has been no update on the progress of that bid.
The rest of the power generated across Grand Cayman comes from the handful of property owners who are completely off the grid and generating their own energy through domestic-scale renewables or from those on the CORE and DER feedback programmes
Both OfReg and CUC have been blamed by those in the green energy sector for stalling the development of alternative sources of energy, and they believe a radical overhaul is needed to begin the rollout of renewables in earnest.
The revised policy, which was published this week, sets out what needs to be done to help Cayman create a greener future. But it is clear that a great deal of investment will be necessary to give shape to the policy, and there are no mandatory requirements for developers. Instead, the policy depends on encouragement and the goodwill of those with the power and the purse strings. It also relies on the development of better alternative energy technologies and a drop in prices as the sector evolves.
According to the authors of the report, previous analyses had suggested possible limitations in the availability of attainable acreage for renewable energy generation development, but that has been dismissed. The policy sets out how the country can make the most of both its year-round sunshine and strong winds.
“Careful assessment of available lands, including landfills and mined-out quarries, as well as available rooftops and parking lots, has yielded a sufficiency of sites conducive to the development of utility-scale and DG opportunities,” the draft policy has found.
It also noted that government would need to revise the airport exclusion zone restrictions to accommodate wind energy facilities on Grand Cayman and outlines how Doppler and airport radar stations can coexist with utility-scale wind energy facilities.
When the report was undertaken in 2021, only 3% of power was generated from renewables here. While that number has increased slightly over the last 18 months, less than 8% of Grand Cayman’s capacity is generated by green resources. But with CUC’s continued customer growth as the population increases, the amount of diesel being burned is actually growing.
In his introduction to the draft policy, Premier Wayne Panton, who is the minister for sustainability, said that for future generations to thrive, the Cayman Islands must shift away from its reliance on expensive, volatile and polluting fossil fuels to affordable, reliable and clean renewable energy.
“In light of the recently released Climate Change Risk Assessment for the Cayman Islands, this policy update includes new policies for energy resiliency to protect against storms, electric vehicles and energy storage, all of which support greenhouse gas emission reductions,” the premier wrote. “The updated policy acknowledges that sustainable development requires a greater emphasis on social equity to promote energy access and professional opportunities for all Caymanians.”
Despite this emphasis on equity, the policy says nothing about public ownership of renewables, which Panton proposed in April last year. In his keynote address at the Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum, he said his government would seek to take control of Cayman’s future green energy resources through majority ownership of any new solar or other renewable energy facilities.
Panton has continued to make his commitment to renewable energy clear. He stated again in the introduction to the NEP that Cayman cannot turn the tide against global warming but has a responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of environmentally-friendly sources of energy.
“Advancing our renewable energy goals will also help protect our islands from the volatility of traditional fuels and the external shocks of international markets,” he said.
“The vision of the policy, ‘Enhancing and embracing a sustainable lifestyle through responsible,
affordable, and innovative energy supply and consumption’, speaks to our collective aspiration for a
Cayman Islands that is held up as one of the most sustainable countries in the world, a trio of islands
where all its citizens can thrive; a peaceful and prosperous place known for its resourcefulness, its
diligence, its excellence, and its innovativeness.”
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Bahamas
Contractors Association President Leonard Sands slammed the government’s continued failure to publish contract awards under the Public Procurement Act.
A revised version of the law requires the government to disclose the name and address of winning bidders, the procuring entity, the procurement selection method and the award amount within 60 days of the contract awardMr Sands said the Davis administration is choosing not to comply with the requirement.
“The government and the minister of public works by choice are deciding to break the law,” he said. “The law says what should happen and they do not do what the act and the law says.”
Mr Sands said the law is flawed because it imposes no penalty for non-disclosure.
“That’s why the Public Procurement Act didn’t go far enough,” he said. “They already foresaw that they could abuse it, because if you don’t have a penalty, what’s the purpose of me adhering to a law? If someone tells you you could only drive 50mph, but if you drive 60mph nothing happens, you gon’ drive 60mph.”
“Many times the government itself is the one that abuses situations in the country. They should ensure the public is aware who is awarded contracts so they could be seen to be fair.”
Davis administration officials did not answer questions about the matter before press time yesterday.
Financial Secretary Simon Wilson said in April that the government would publish contract awards when the reporting capacity of its procurement system is improved. The government launched the Go Bonfire Platform procurement portal last year. Mr Wilson said officials were back filing information on the new system. The status of those efforts is unclear.
Mr Sands, however, said notifying the public of contract awards should not be complicated.
“Somebody,” he said, “had to sign a document. You know exactly who that person was who signed it, okay? All of the things they tell you are garbage responses to their intention to willfully hide information from the public.”
Concern about the lack of transparency over procurement processes has persisted for years, a problem the law was designed to cure.
The law has no effect,” Mr Sands claimed. “The Public Procurement Act and its improvements have no effect. The same things that were going on prior to the act being in place continues.”
He said contractors do not expect much from the government.
“Contractors know that, at the end of the day, the persons who the government and or the minister and or whoever wants to have that contract, will have that contract. There’s nothing to do with whether they follow all the protocols of the Public Procurement Act. That’s the sentiment across the board.”
In its 2022 Investment Climate Statement report on The Bahamas, the US Bureau of Economic and Affairs highlighted procurement issue“The government passed a Public Procurement Act and launched an e-procurement and suppliers registry system in 2021. While the registry system is in place, the Public Procurement Act has yet to be fully implemented. Companies complain that the tender process for public contracts is inconsistent and allege it is difficult to obtain information on the status of bids,” the US agency said.
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