Trinidad and Tobago
THE Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) has responded to the alleged tender glitch for Udecott’s e-tendering submissions for the Port of Spain General Hospital Central Block project.
In a statement on the tender glitch, JCC president Fazir Khan called on the Government to “stop procrastinating” and fully operationalise the Office of the Procurement Regulator.
He said this would result in “independent oversight of the tender process” for special-purpose companies, “spending public money.”
“ As it stands, the public is still waiting on the Attorney General to take a note to Cabinet to have the public procurement and disposal of public property Regulations take lawful effect.”
“The AG would say that he is waiting on the Finance Minister to allocate funds for resourcing procurement officers. Minister Imbert, however, now tells the public that he is waiting on the AG. “The Prime Minister remains complicity silent. So the emperors continue to fiddle while Rome burns, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill,” the JCC’s statement said.
On Sunday, the tender-glitch was reported in the Sunday Guardian. The same day, UNC MP Dr Roodal Moonilal called for an immediate investigation, suggesting there was likely improper conduct of procurement.
In a statement on Monday, Udecott said explained what took place, maintaining there were n amendments to submissions.
It said a request for proposals for the hospital block redevelopment project was issued via e-tender on April 19 to five companies: Yorke Structures Ltd, Steel Structures Ltd, Universal Structures Ltd, Metal-X Engineering Ltd, and Francis-Lau Construction Ltd.
Metal-X and Francis-Lau Construction said they did not intend to submit a proposal and the e-tender closed on May 20 at 4 pm, “at which time, no further tender submissions or modifications could be or were submitted.”
Udecott said at 4.05 pm on May 20, the e-tender box was opened and the online e-tender register, at the time, showed two successful tender submissions from Yorke Structures and Steel Steel Structures.
The company said, checks of the e-tender server logs recorded three receipts, confirming there were three tender submissions. The logs showed the submissions were loaded at 11.47 am by Yorke Structures; 12.16 pm by Universal Structures and 2.14 pm by Steel Structures; all on May 20.
Udecott said it immediately contacted the owner and manager of the e-tender software, TSTT, to explain the discrepancy.
It said at 6.13 pm, TSTT confirmed that Udecott’s e-tender server logs were correct and there were three tender submissions received.
Udecott also said TSTT was asked to provide a written explanation.
On May 23, Udecott said meetings were held with all three companies as part of the tender evaluation process and the issues relating to the e-tender process were explained to them, and no queries were raised.
Four days later, Udecott said it received TSTT’s written explanation which said the telecoms company “directly attributes this to a temporary disruption in internet connectivity during the upload process” which led to the online e-tender register initially showing two tender submissions as opposed to the three that were successfully uploaded on May 20.
“Udecott stands resolute that there were no amendments to submissions made by any of the three proponents (companies). The last submission was made at 2.24 pm on Friday, May 20, 2022, and there were no submissions or modifications to any submission thereafter.”
Udecott said it reaffirmed that its procurement process was “consistent with its core values of good governance and integrity and the management of the project will continue to be undertaken in a transparent and cost-effective manner.”
Udecott’s statement also included the written report provided by TSTT which also included recommendations for the company’s consideration, including having it notify TSTT when e-tenders are to open to confirm and validate the status and receipt of all bids with a “no upload” status. It also recommended implementing an “upload authentication” feature to mandate a repeat of the upload process if it was unsuccessful at the time of upload…
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Jamaica
Public officials are accountable for the expenditure of public funds. Period. This is a fundamental principle. For this reason, I have been concerned about impressions which may have formed from The Gleaner story, published a few weeks ago, on the unavailability of the sums involved in the contract for printing Jamaica’s upgraded banknotes. Some have interpreted the non-production of the specific information requested by The Gleaner as being at variance with the fundamental principle cited above. As we know, however, principles are often not absolute and apply provided that they do not violate other important principles.
Public disclosure of this specific information would constitute a breach of contract, which could subject the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) to liabilities. The BOJ is therefore correct that such a disclosure would “constitute an actionable breach of confidence” and, as such, this specific information is exempt from disclosure under the Access to Information Act.
However, we cannot leave it there. Fidelity to the cited principle demands a response to the motivating and underlying queries, “Will we be better off?”, “Does this represent a good use of resources?” As minister of finance and the public service, with final responsibility for the form and design of notes and coins to be issued by the Bank of Jamaica by virtue of Section 14(1)(a) of the Bank of Jamaica Act, I see it as my duty to provide this account.
In my budget presentation I provided the background to, and rationale for, the upgrade of Jamaica’s family of banknotes. Recapping, the BOJ independently and without prompting, recommended to me almost three years ago, that Jamaica’s family of banknotes needed to be upgraded. In fact they advised that this was “overdue”. The benefits to be derived included (a) enhanced security as the next generation of banknotes embeds features that make it more difficult to counterfeit; (b) the upgraded banknotes would allow for much clearer distinction among notes reducing errors made in trading (e.g. mistaking the $500 bill for the $5,000 bill, often at night); (c) the upgraded notes would have features that better meet the needs of the visually impaired; (d) the cost of the upgraded notes, over the expected lifetime of each note, would be less than obtains today.
TECHNICAL REASONS
In addition to these four benefits, and related to the last of these above, upgrading Jamaica’s family of banknotes will allow Jamaica to entertain competition in the procurement of all our banknotes. This does not happen today. A little-known fact is that there are features on our current $50 banknote and $100 banknote, introduced in 2012 when the substrate was changed, that only one printer in the world can produce. (This was necessary at the time for technical reasons). Therefore, each time the BOJ tenders for the printing of banknotes there is only one printer in the world that can bid with respect to the $50 banknote and $100 banknote. Obviously, it is highly suboptimal, that we have only one source when procuring these two banknotes. The upgrade of Jamaica’s banknotes resolves this problem. Multiple banknote printers will be able to print all of the upgraded banknotes. With the upgraded notes each time banknotes need to be purchased Jamaicans can be assured of multiple bids for each denomination. This will be a vast improvement over current realities.
Today, our currency denominations use a mixture of materials called substrates. The $50 and $100 notes use a hybrid substrate, which is a mixture of cotton and polymer. The $500, $1,000 and $5,000 are on varnished cotton. These, however, are not the most durable substrates available today. In the upgrade of Jamaica’s banknotes the BOJ sought far more durable substrates that will improve the average circulation life of banknotes, thereby reducing reorder quantities and frequencies as compared with current practice.
The process to settle on the technical design of the upgrade of Jamaica’s banknotes included a competitive international tender process in which six globally renowned banknote printers participated. One of these bids was deemed non-responsive and so eleven design concepts were considered from five global suppliers. Furthermore, the evaluation of the bids was conducted with the advice of an independent global technical currency advisory firm that specialises in the technology and security of banknote printing.
The upgraded Jamaica banknotes that emerged from this process will use polymer as the substrate. The will feel very different from our banknotes today. The feel and texture of the British Pound, the Canadian Dollar or the Eastern Caribbean Dollar are all based on polymer substrates and provide a close approximation to what our new upgraded banknotes will feel like.
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, which is the Monetary Authority for the Eastern Caribbean countries of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Grenada and St Vincent & the Grenadines, upgraded its family of banknotes over the years 2019-2021 to make use of the polymer substrate. Trinidad and Tobago completed the same banknote upgrade exercise, also using the polymer substrate, over the same period. And, this year, Barbados upgraded their family of banknotes using the same polymer substrate. Jamaica, therefore, is behind its fellow CARICOM countries in implementing this much-needed modernisation.
Further from the Caribbean, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, UK and 25 other countries around the world have similarly upgraded their banknotes to this more durable, less costly substrate.
THE $2,000 NOTE
In a separate correspondence, almost three years ago, the BOJ also independently, and without prompting, advised me that technical studies showed the need for the introduction of a new currency denomination between the $1,000 and the $5,000 note. The Bank of Jamaica further proposed the introduction of a $2,000 note that would bring greater efficiency to Jamaica’s currency structure allowing cash transactions to be settled easier. With the introduction of the $2,000 note alongside the $1,000 and $5,000 notes, consumers and businesses will require fewer notes to settle transactions.
COST OF PRINTING BANKNOTES
Over the past five years the BOJ has, on average, spent just under $1 billion every year to acquire banknotes, and in the process replace banknotes that are worn out.
The BOJ projects that without upgrading Jamaica’s family of banknotes it would spend $16.6 billion over the next 10 years on banknote procurement. By upgrading Jamaica’s banknotes, the BOJ projects to instead spend $12.4 billion over the next 10 years, inclusive of the initial procurement. The upgraded banknotes, therefore, promise savings of at least $4 billion over the next decade. The cost-efficiencies of the upgraded banknotes allow the BOJ to introduce an additional new denomination, the $2,000 banknote, and still save $4 billion over a decade.
We can also measure savings in terms of the number of banknotes purchased. Over the past five years the BOJ has procured an average of 122.6 million banknote pieces each year. The BOJ forecasts that if we retain the existing family of banknotes 123.9 million banknote pieces would be purchased annually over the next 10 years. The BOJ forecasts that with the upgraded family of notes, the BOJ will procure an average of 103 million banknote pieces per year over the next decade. So, though the BOJ will increase the number of denominations with the introduction of the $2,000 banknote, they anticipate purchasing a smaller quantity of banknotes overall each year largely due to the increased durability of each banknote and the substitution effect of the $2,000 note.
The modernisation of Jamaica’s family of banknotes is indeed overdue and Jamaica is behind our peers in this regard. The upgraded banknotes will allow the BOJ to use public funds more efficiently, saving $4 billion over 10 years, while improving the security and ease of use of our national currency.
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Trinidad and Tobago
THE Urban Development Corporation of T&T (UDeCOTT) yesterday defended its e-tendering submissions for the redevelopment of the Port of Spain General Hospital Central Block project and states that no amendments to submissions were made to any of three proponents.
It was reported in a daily newspaper over the weekend that on May 20, which was the deadline for the submission of bids, two bidders and their respective prices were listed as successfully uploaded on the e-tender platform.
That platform is managed by UDeCOTT but technologically supported by the Telecommunications Services of T&T (TSTT).
However, an issue reportedly arose on May 23 when the successful bidders, Yorke Structures and Steel Structures, were informed that a third company was also in the running and would be making a presentation on the same day.
In a news release yesterday, UDeCOTT said the Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued via e-Tender on April 19, 2022 to the following five proponents companies:
• Yorke Structures Ltd
• Steel Structures Ltd
• Universal Structures Ltd
• Metal-X Engineering Ltd
• Francis-Lau Construction
The State-owned company said both Metal-X Engineering Ltd and Francis-Lau Construction, indicated that they did not intend to submit a proposal.
It noted that the e-tender closed on Friday, May 20, at 4 p.m, at which time, no further tender submissions or modifications could be or were submitted.
The company indicated that at 4.05 p.m on the said Friday, the e-tender box was opened and the online e-Tender register showed Yorke Structures Ltd and Steel Structures Ltd as the successful tender submissions.
However, checks of UDeCOTT’s e-tender server logs recorded that three receipts were issued, one to each of three proponents confirming that three tender submissions were successfully uploaded at the following times all on the Friday. The e-tender server logs reported submissions by Yorke Structures Ltd at 11.47 a.m.; Universal Structures Ltd at 12.16 p.m. and Steel Structures Ltd at 2.24 p.m.
It noted that the company immediately contacted the owner and manager of the e-tender software, TSTT, to explain this discrepancy.
UDeCOTT explained that it received an e-mail from TSTT at 6.13 p.m on May 20, providing information which confirmed that UDeCOTT’s e-tender server longs were in fact correct and there were in fact three tender submissions received at the times identified. TSTT was asked to provide a written explanation.
“On Monday May 23, meetings were convened with all three proponents as part of the tender evaluation process. These matters were explained to the proponents and no queries were raised,” the release further added.
UDeCOTT indicated that that it received TSTT’s written explanation by letter dated Thursday, May 26, indicating that TSTT “directly attributes this to a temporary disruption in Internet connectivity during the upload process” which led to the online e-tender register initially showing two tender submissions as opposed to the three that were in fact successfully uploaded on the Friday.
“UDeCOTT reaffirms that its procurement process is consistent with its core values of good governance and integrity and the management of the project will continue to be undertaken in a transparent and cost effective manner,” the release said.
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United States Virgin Islands
A bill that sought to use government funds to purchase a building to provide services for the homeless and mentally ill on St. Croix, in what was described as a public-private relationship, was held in committee following concerns about the measure.
Bill No. 34-0176 is an Act appropriating $325,000 from the Community Facility Trust Fund to the General Fund for the purpose of supporting the refurbishment of a building located at No. 33 Company Street, Christiansted. The building would be used by the Collective Collaboration, Inc., an adult mental health and homelessness program established in 2020.
But the building would not be owned by the Government of the Virgin Islands and some lawmakers saw that as a problem. Deputy Property and Procurement Commissioner Vincent Richards, said the government should own the building and then lease it to the Collective Collaboration.
“If any funds from this appropriation would be earmarked for the acquisition of property, the government would need to acquire the property itself and hold title to the property. This process requires three appraisals, the governor’s and Legislature’s approval,” Mr. Richards said while explaining that leasing the property to the Collective Collaboration would be in line with other plans of the government to lease property to nonprofit organizations.
Senator Donna Frett-Gregory were among lawmakers who, while supporting the efforts of the Collective Collaboration, voiced concern with the measure. “I am in full support of Collective Collaboration and the work they do,” she said. “However, the information and ask that came before the committee was unclear and remained unclear throughout the discussion. The Department of Property and Procurement gave their support but also strongly recommend that the GVI purchase the building and turn lease it to the nonprofit even if it’s only for a a few dollars per year, that’s what I will support. And if we need to appropriate funding for the up fitting I’m there because of the service the entity provides to our community. Let’s just do it right the first time.”
The bill was ultimately held in committee, with Senators Frett-Gregory, Janelle Sarauw, Dwayne DeGraff and Marvin Blyden voting to hold it. Senator Javan James voted in favor while Senators Samuel Carrion and Kurt Vialet abstained.
During the hearing, Karen Dickenson, founder and president of the Collective Collaboration, said that mental health care and homelessness in the territory have reached crisis levels and that there is a lack of resources to address the problem. She said the government has not provided the resources to fight the growing issue.
“The plight of homeless and mental health in a small community as such should not be at this crisis level,” Ms. Dickenson said. “We are in crisis and no one seems to care. The necessary resources to address the problem are nowhere in sight. Politicians continue to use my family as the fundamental of their campaign, and after election, they become the visible invisible.”
Ms. Dickenson, visibly emotional, said the Collective Collaboration continues to do its part in impacting the community and empowering individuals. “My family is no different than yours, they are not requesting a lot. A simple meal, a safe place to rest, and people to care for and provide support. This is not an easy job, it is not. However, it is a job I love as these are my family. I ask everyone here who has a heart to lend your support to this bill.” She said the measure’s approval would allow for many to have a safe space at night “just like you and I in your family.”
Mr. Francis, the bill sponsor, in a post of Facebook following the hearing stated, “Sometimes all that’s keeping people from being out on the streets is one paycheck. Sometimes it’s mental illness. Sometimes it’s just bad luck. The reality is that the only difference between someone who is homeless and you, is that you have the stability of knowing where you are going to sleep every night and that you will be safe. That is the only difference. Our homeless are people, too, and I will continue to advocate on their behalf.”
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Trinidad and Tobago
The Joint Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) is alarmed but not surprised by statements attibuted to the Finance Minister, as reported in the media on May 31, that “the current procurement process being carried out by TPHL for the sale or lease of the refinery has been closely monitored by the Ministry of Finance for the last 12 months.”
What is even more appalling, is that Mr Imbert went on the claim, “the ministry is satisfied that the process has been robust and rigorous, and completely above board and consistent with best practice.”
The minister is fully aware that best procurement practice requires independent, transparent oversight as envisaged in the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act.
If the act was fully implemented, this TPHL transaction would be more palatable to the public, as the independent Office of the Procurement Regulator would have had legal oversight. The key word here is independent.
We cannot continue to tolerate himself-checking-himself as the Minister of Finance proudly announced. The government’s abysmal failure to complete this critical change in the way we do business with public money and public property, no doubt whatsoever, needs to be squarely laid at the feet of the Prime Minister.
He has tolerated, if not aided his Finance Minister’s copiously documented excuse after excuse since 2016. The PM himself promised the public, on the eve of the 2020 election, that full operationalisation of the act would be realised within a few weeks.
Seven years later, this ball was kicked into the court of the new Attorney General in March. The AG has since provided no timeline for taking his long-awaited note to cabinet.
Dr Rowley seems content to placate the masses with talk of transparency and accountability since 2015, when his government came into power. His legacy in this regard will be one of a failure to use his executive power to act in the best interest of the people.
He has effectively squandered the opportunity to stymie the rot of massive corruption with this world class procurement legislation. Any dent that could have been made on the endemic and systemic corruption in this country, by his administration, could have not only saved billions of taxpayers’ dollars annually, but also initiate positive transformational change in attitudes regarding accountability and transparency.
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