Jamaica
THE Integrity Commission has rapped the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) for failing to report to the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) — now subsumed into the commission — two multi-million US-dollar contracts which were awarded to Rosenbauer Minnesota, in 2013 and 2015, for the provision of six fire trucks.
The commission’s report, tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, said the JFB awarded contracts to Rosenbauer through its local agent, National Safety Limited, for US$1,355,283 in March 2013; and US$1,359,591, in January, 2015, for the procurement of the units utilising the direct contracting procurement method.
“The then accounting and accountable officers of the JFB breached Sections 29 (a) and (b)(ii) of the Contractor General Act as a result of their failure to submit the requisite quarterly contract awards reports to the OCG, advising of the award of two contracts to Rosenbauer Minnesota LLC…for the referenced periods,” the commission’s director of investigations, Kevon Stephenson noted. The Quarterly Contract Award (QCA) database is a web-based system, which facilitated the submission of QCA reports to the OCG, of the particulars of contracts which were awarded by public bodies within specified sums. The reporting requirement became applicable to all classification of government contracts awarded as of May 1, 2006.
According to the report, the JFB’s rationale was that it faced the risk of losing the funding provided in the budget for the purchase of the trucks, as the financial year was coming to an end, and there was an urgent need to acquire the trucks.
It said former JFB Commissioner Errol Mowatt had told the OCG that, having been advised to abort the tender process by the National Contracts Commission (NCC), the Ministry of Local Government had assumed responsibility for the execution of the contract. “Consequently, any decision on matters related to this procurement thereafter was done between the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development and Rosenbauer and/or National Safety.
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Guyana
The government of Guyana and the Inter–American Development Bank (IDB) have jointly launched a tender to deploy 33 MW/34 MWh of solar-plus-storage capacity.
The Guyanese authorities said the tender will be divided into three lots. It will enable the selection of eight PV projects, the government said, without disclosing additional technical and financial details.
The deadline to submit project proposals is March 6. The procurement exercise is part of the Guyana Utility Scale Solar Photovoltaic (GUYSOL) Programme.
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Trinidad and Tobago
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says that this country is inspecting an above-average amount of containers at the Ports.
He was at the time responding to questions posed by members of the opposition in the Lower House on Friday (December 09).
Asked by Naparima MP Rodney Charles whether as head of the national security council if he can state when it intends to take charge of the process to ensure that the legal ports of entry are fully equipped with the necessary amount of scanners, PM Rowley gave the assurance that there is currently a fully operational scanner being utilised.
“There is a fully operational fixed scanner at the port of Port of Spain. It is eight years old and it is still fit for purpose, and is in operation.”
He explained however, that the mobile scanners which were donated to this country by the United States in 2018 and were installed at Point Lisas were not new, but rather 16 years old at the time they were donated.
He said, as a result, those scanners are now deemed to be obsolete.
“Procurement of new scanners was initiated recently and tenders for new, mobile scanners are expected to be received by February 23, 2023.”
The Prime Minister also noted that 17 per cent of all containers entering the country are inspected, whereas 20 per cent are actually physically inspected.
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Guyana
Guyana, a country on South America’s north coast, has issued an invitation for bids for energy storage projects with a combined capacity of 34MWh.
The Guyana Utility Scale Solar Photovoltaic Program (GUYSOL) is now seeking bids for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the eight solar PV projects and 34MWh of associated energy storage. Bids must be submitted by March 7, 2023.
It comes six months after the country received US$83 million in financing from Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, as reported by Energy-Storage.news at the time.
The eight ground-mounted solar PV plants will total 33MWp while the battery energy storage systems (BESS) will amount to 34MWh of capacity. It is not yet clear how many BESS units are being deployed, but it is unlikely to be eight since of a portion of the PV projects are standalone.
A document from Guyana Power and Light Inc, the agency executing on the process, did not specify the required power output of the BESS either.
The projects will spread across the country’s three separate electricity grids; the Linden Isolated Power System (LIS), Essequibo Coast Isolated Power System (EIS) and Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS).
Three solar PV plants totalling 15MWp will be installed with a minimum of 22MWh of battery storage in the LIS, two solar PV plants totalling 8MWp with 12MWh of storage in the EIS and some 10MWp of standalone PV will be installed in the DBIS.
The projects will help to lower emissions, reduce the cost of running the three grids and support the country’s transition to renewable energy.
Bidding will be conducted through International Competitive Bidding (ICB) procedures specified in IDB’s Policies for the Procurement of Goods and Works.
Guyana is not to be confused with French Guiana, an overseas territory of France which is also located on the north coast of South America.
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Trinidad and Tobago
If the legislation to give the Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR) is fully proclaimed to give it teeth, corrupt politicians engaging in illegal procurement practices will face the full brunt of the law, said OPR chairman Moonilal Lalchan.
“Finally someone in TT, under the office of the Procurement Regulator, will have the opportunity to investigate wrongdoings from ministers all the way down to officer,” Lalchan said. “Once you are involved in those activities we will be involved in the investigation.”
Lalchan said the DPP’s office has agreed to prosecute any incidents on the basis of investigations and findings made by the OPR.
Lalchan was speaking at a session for media workers on the status of public procurement held virtually on Thursday.
He said if the act is fully proclaimed and there is an incident of corruption in a procurement process, a wide range of people could be held liable, brought before the courts and charged. Section 61 (3), Lalchan said, speaks to liability being on the main procurement officer, but the list of offences under the act also speaks to collusion and neglecting to report an incident of corruption or bad practice if an individual is aware.
In a presentation Lalchan explained that the list of offences ranges from splitting procurement to victimisation, bid-rigging and conduct influencing a public officer, including bribery, conflicts of interest and coercive or obstructive practices.
He added that while incidents of corruption which occurred before the law is proclaimed could not be investigated retroactively under the law, the OPR can investigate incidents using the laws that were in place at the time.
Sections of the act say a person convicted of a crime within a ten-year period of applying for pre-qualification for tenders under the act, would be rejected, but Lalchan stressed that the OPR would not reject an application for pre-qualification under allegations of being involved in criminal activity.
“You could imagine that people could sabotage the system by alleging that someone is part of a gang and getting them debarred from participating. So there must be
a conviction of any fraudulent or illegal practices,” he said.
He also pointed out that the act provides protection for whistleblowers and established a whistleblowing facility outside TT. The OPR plans to roll out that facility a month after the act is fully proclaimed.
The OPR is a body established under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act of 2015, which is aimed at providing for public procurement and for the retention and disposal of public property in accordance with the principles of good governance. The act was partially proclaimed in 2015.
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