Saint Kitts and Nevis
Due to the overwhelming response from prospective bidders, the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) has extended the bidding process for geothermal drilling until March 09, 2023.
“So far I’m told over 30 companies have put in bids or shown interest, and as a result the bidding process has been extended to March 09,” Premier Hon. Mark Brantley, NIA Minister of Energy said during his monthly press conference this morning, February 28. He said the extension of one month had come at the request of prospective bidders.
“After March 09 we would expect a decision to be taken and then we move forward. I’ve been in touch with Honourable Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew and he has assured me that all that was necessary to be done at the Federal level in terms of the grant funding, that documentation has been settled and finalized and returned to the CDB [Caribbean Development Bank], and so therefore I look forward to this project moving forward rapidly…as we try now to get the promise of geothermal realized here in the Federation for the benefit not only for Nevis, but also of course for our brothers and sisters in St. Kitts as well.”
In December 2022 the CDB approved USD$17 million for the drilling phase of the Nevis Geothermal Project, which includes the drilling of three production and two injection wells.
Premier Brantley said that in accordance with CDB procurement procedures, a tender was launched for a contractor to provide the drilling services, including drilling rig, wellhead equipment, casings and integrated drilling services.
In his 2023 Budget Address the Premier explained it is expected that bids will be evaluated and then the necessary approvals obtained.
“Drilling is expected to commence within six months from signing of a contract and it is also expected that drilling will be completed within a further period of six months.”
According to Premier Brantley, the economic impact of harnessing geothermal energy is tremendous for both local use and as an incentive for direct investment into Nevis.
“At the proposed purchase price to NEVLEC [Nevis Electricity Company] of US$0.09 cents per kilowatt hour, Nevis promises to have the cheapest and cleanest electricity in the region, paving the way for significant savings for our people. In addition, geothermal energy will position us to benefit from foreign direct investment from business entities which are heavily dependent on energy for their daily operations. We are now well poised to take advantage of the gift, that is geothermal resource, and to propel Nevis into a new era of development.”
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Trinidad and Tobago
THE Planning and Development Ministry is inviting proposals for a consultancy service for the development of a National Manpower Plan.
The invitation is contained in a a tender notice, dated February 7, issued by the ministry.
Proposal documents are available at the ministry’s procurement unit on Level Five of the Eric Williams Financial Complex in Port of Spain, from Monday to Friday, between 8 am and 4 pm.
The proposals must be accompanied by valid income tax and value added tax (VAT) clearance certificates, dated not more than six months before the closing date for the submission of bids.
The proposals must also be accompanied by a valid certificate of compliance issued in accordance with the National Insurance Act.
The deadline for submission of proposals is 1 pm on March 13.
The proposed consultant or their authorised representative may be present when the proposals are opened on that day.
On November 27, 2020, then planning and development minister Camille Robinson-Regis received a US$100,000 grant and technical support from the United Nations Children’s (UNICEF) Generation Unlimited Project to develop a ten-year national manpower plan
Robinson-Regis said, “The successful implementation of this project and its recommendations will move TT closer to achieving our collective national vision of a united, resilient, productive, innovative and prosperous nation.”
A statement issued by the ministry in November 2020, said the plan was undertaken based on research it had done. This research revealed there is a sense of urgency within the business sector for a manpower plan for TT.
The ministry said, “What the research identified was existence of skills gaps in areas within the local labour market. This has also been confirmed by various surveys such as the World Bank’s Enterprise Survey 2010 and the Ministry of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development’s Vacancy Survey Report 2012.”
The former, the ministry continued, said 30 per cent of firms in TT stated that an inadequately educated workforce was a major constraint to business.
“A National Manpower Plan would therefore serve to tackle these problems across the board within the education and employment systems of TT.”
The objectives of the plan include closing the skills gap between labour demand and supply, reform of the education and training system to provide appropriate / certifiable paths for students with varying abilities, establishment of a database or national registry of skilled individuals to be used for identification of certified skilled people and the measurement of the inventory of skills in TT, career guidance to manage the expectation of entrants into the job market and to promote lifelong learning. .
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Guyana
“Right now, there is a deficiency in power supply because nothing is working so for the next two years when they decide to bring the gas-to shore project, if we do not start to address these issues, every single day—as we are having now we will be having power failure,” Patterson predicted.
Opposition Member of Parliament and Former Public Works Minister, David Patterson is of the view that the country will have to brace itself for daily power outages if the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) company does not fix some of its current challenges.
Patterson said he believes the challenges currently facing GPL are well over fifteen in number, and range from faulty equipment to improper maintenence.
During an AFC Press Conference today, Mr. Patterson said the bulk of GPL’s issues is in its procurement processes.
He accused the Government of purchasing substandard power generation equipment that cannot work beyond three months—thereby creating a condition for the company to always be in need of new equipment.
“Under the guise of public procurement, they started opening tenders for these things and go for the lowest bidder—what we did was to go directly to the manufacturer of the best products. So when we bought a fuse or a spacer we went to the European Company or so, they gone back to what they have said is the procurement method and they use these middle men who go and buy these cheap plastic products which give you only three months of service,” Patterson noted.
The Opposition MP explained that the Coalition Government was able to reduce the frequency of blackouts during its term in office.
He expressed worry that GPL now seems to be rolling back all of the plans that were put in place by the previous administration to ensure a more stable service.
“Right now, there is a deficiency in power supply because nothing is working so for the next two years when they decide to bring the gas-to shore project, if we do not start to address these issues, every single day—as we are having now we will be having power failure,” Patterson predicted.
According to Patterson, even the government’s much touted gas-to-shore project will not bring much ease, if GPL does not get its lines in order.
Over the past several weeks the Guyana Power and Light has been forced to apologize for unplanned power outages.
While some of the outages were not caused directly by GPL, there were a number of power outages that were directly linked to the company’s power generation systems.
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Guyana
A Public Procurement Commission (PPC) notice in yesterday’s Guyana Chronicle said that since the national budget was approved on February 2nd, procurement entities are required to tender their plans on or before February 23rd.
As its authority, the PPC referred to 11A of the Procurement Act 73:05 which states “Every procuring entity shall submit that entity’s procurement plans to the Public Procurement Commission for the fiscal year covered in the National Budget within three weeks after the National Budget is approved”.
The PPC encouraged procuring entities to make use of the Electronic Procurement Plan Template available on its website
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Guyana
Following an audit report over breaches in relation to COVID-19 purchases, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee [PAC], Jermaine Figueira, has recommended that the Ministry of Health make recommendations for the amending of the Procurement Act 2003 to include emergency acquisitions and improved regulations.
Figueira made the recommendation yesterday after the Auditor General in his 2021 procurement, storage and distribution of COVID-19 supplies report, revealed that the Ministry of Public Health and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) had breached procurement laws. That report examined March to August 2020 during the tenure of the APNU+AFC government
However, Malcolm Watkins, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health stated prior to Figueira’s recommendation for a review of the 2003 Procurement Act, that he believe the current laws are functional and breaches in the procurement period at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic should not have occurred. Watkins, made this statement yesterday to the PAC as the MoH and PAC scrutinized the performance audit for the procurement, storage, and distribution of COVID-19 supplies report by the Auditor General.
The AG’s report had stated that the ministry had no protection against late supplies as the procuring entities failed to include contract start dates and end dates penalty clauses. It also found that suppliers who were contracted via single sourcing, delivered supplies monthly as the Ministry could not act against errant contractors.
“The Ministry lost money by not inserting penalty clauses in contracts, and vulnerable persons waited for supplies,” the report said. But in one instance where the clause was included, the AG’s report stated that the Ministry did not deduct penalty fees of close to $5m. This sum could have been used to purchase additional supplies to help fight the disease. Most of the questions asked on the procurement process could not have been answered yesterday as the relevant persons, from both the Ministry of Health and CDC were no longer employed and did not present themselves before the PAC.
Members of the Government side of the committee opened the session with questions on the findings that key details from contracts were missing. CDC’s Director General, Colonel Nazrul Hussain informed the PAC that he was not in possession of the necessary documentation. In the AG’s report, it was stated that nine contracts prepared by the CDC did not have definite terms as to the start and end dates for delivery of the items. “The failure on the part of the Civil Defence Commission to legally bind suppliers to a stipulated delivery period resulted in delays on the part of suppliers when supplying the items,” the report stated.
The government side also sought answers on how the procurement pro-cess was initiated and what led to the selection of the contractors. However, no definitive answers could be provided. The suppliers were sole-sourced for the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). At one point, Hussain explained that a few of the contractors, part of sole sourcing, came from the prequalified list of suppliers of the Guyana Defence Force. A Chinese company, it was revealed, was a part of the nine companies, and government member, Sanjeev Datadin, questioned if the company was on the GDF’s prequalified list of suppliers, but got no answer. Hussain at one point acknowledged to the PAC that the CDC would have breached procurement laws and regulations during the period.
When asked what could have caused the possible late deliveries, Watkins explained from his knowledge, the delays were as a result of issues in the global supply chain at the time. Additionally, Watkins told the PAC that when he took over the daily operations of the Ministry of Health in late 2020, when COVID-19 was consistently rising, he was able to implement some structure in the procurement process. He stated that they were able to go to public tender within two days of approval from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). With this public process, he explain-ed to the committee, they were able to secure competitive bids in the procurement of the PPE.
He told the PAC that he was able to secure bids for the supply of masks at 87 cents through public tendering in the height of the pandemic, while the previous administration procured the KN95 mask at $7.50 each at the start of COVID-19. He stated even if some market research was done, they [MoH] would have been able to make informed decision by accessing the suppliers’ capabilities to provide the items at a cheaper cost and have it supplied urgently. Watkins also stated that they could have gone to public procurement while doing small purchases to eliminate breaches in the procurement system. Explaining the reasoning behind the Audit Office’s findings, the Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary had told the AG’s office that the urgency of being prepared for the rapidly spreading virus was the key factor in the procurement process.
In the case where a total of eighteen contracts valued at over $424m were awarded before approval was received from the NPTAB, Watkins explained that the procuring team would have secured orders from the supplier[s] before the award was given or before official notice to deliver was provided. The Auditor General’s special audit found that the Ministry and CDC spent over $1.3 billion to purchase drugs and medical supplies, food, medical equipment and print educational materials among others. The report stated that the CDC received $45 million in cash donations and spent $28 million to print materials and purchase supplies.
A breakdown of the contracts showed that the APNU+AFC Public Health Ministry awarded 14 contracts totaling $307,806,000 for medical supplies. Those were awarded between March 30 and May 30, 2020. The CDC, between March 13 and April 22, 2020, awarded 14 contracts for food hampers, personal protective equipment and hygiene supplies. The total sum awarded amounted to $116,113,000. The Procurement Act of 2003 mandates public tendering for all government agencies.
As a mechanism for emergency tendering, entities are allowed to sole-source based on a satisfactory history of the supplier. In the sole-sourcing process, after the identification of the supplier the procuring entity would be required to approach the Tender Board for approval, followed by the issuance of an acceptance letter and subsequent signing of the contract. However, that process was not followed for 18 of the sole-sourced contracts according to the AG’s report.
“The Ministry of Public Health and the Civil Defence Commission did not procure COVID-19 supplies in an efficient manner. There was no monitoring of the performance of contracts, which resulted in millions of dollars of supplies being delivered close to a month after the delivery dates had expired. In addition, the entities prepared Purchase Orders after receiving supplies. These findings made us conclude that the entities did not procure COVID-19 supplies in an efficient manner,” the audit report concluded.
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