Guyana
-emergency works planned
Rushing to fix a crater that has developed on Middleton Street, Kitty, Georgetown, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill last night said the ministry has written to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board for permission to go to selective tendering.
While visiting the site just after 10 last night, Edghill explained that the culvert situated on the street has not been functioning and as result a gaping sinkhole emerged in the road. The depression is located on Middleton Street between Drury Lane and Station Street, Kitty.
“We have already written to the National Procurement and Tender Administration to do selective tendering to get a few contractors to bid. This is going to be a major work we will have to build an entire culvert. This could end up costing more than $20 million so we have to get permission…” Edghill stated during his visit.
He stated that he was informed by the ministry’s works coordinator that they should have a response by today. Within a few days he said they will invite tenders and will swiftly award a contract to commence emergency works
“In the interim because a section of the road is still accessible, I will have to get my people [workers from the ministry] to come out because this can cause accidents in the night to put in cones and cordon off the one lane to particularly improve safety at night,” the Minister said.
On Facebook several persons had raised concerns over safety to road users and complained that the crater has been causing traffic congestion during peak hours.
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Bahamas
The Opposition’s leader yesterday hit back at the Davis administration for “flat-out concealing” millions of dollars in contracts it has concluded since taking office by failing to comply with the Public Procurement Act.
Michael Pintard, the Marco City MP and former Cabinet minister, accused the Prime Minister of applying “different sets of rules for others than what he is prepared to abide by himself” when it comes to good governance and transparency and accountability in public life.
Speaking after Philip Davis QC blasted the Minnis administration’s $53m COVID-19 food assistance initiative for poor record-keeping and inadequate controls over how taxpayer monies are used, the Opposition’s leader sought to turn the tables by renewing his assertion that the Prime Minister has “flat-out refused to comply” with the legal requirements of a law that came into force just 15 days before the September 16, 2021, general election.
“Our position is simply that the Government is determined not to follow the law, and in a few instances with the compendium of financial legislation where they have followed it, it is at their own pace and on their own terms,” Mr Pintard blasted. “I would only say on the record, listening to the Prime Minister, that he has a different set of rules for others than what he is prepared to abide by himself.
“He is unprepared to remove the veil of secrecy because of his unwillingness to comply with the Public Procurement Act and reveal what contracts they have entered into since coming into the Government. He has flat-out refused to comply….. When it comes to removing the veil of secrecy he is woefully lacking and has fallen short.
“They are flat-out concealing who they are entering into business with, the size of the contracts, duration of the contracts they are issuing and, in some cases, they have to end existing contracts to enter into new ones. With whom, for what amounts and for what length of time? These are things they are obliged to tell the Bahamian people.”
This is not the first time that Mr Pintard has challenged the Davis administration’s compliance with this law. Under the Act, all, government ministries, departments, agencies and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are mandated to release information on all government contracts “within 60 days” of their award to the successful bidder. This means all contracts awarded between September 1, 2021, and March 18, 2022, should have been publicly disclosed by now.
This, though, has yet to happen with government officials, including Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, asserting that the failure to create, advertise and fill the post of chief procurement officer makes it impossible to implement the Act and its disclosure requirements because the legislation revolves around that person’s functioning.
However, section 61 of the Public Procurement Act seemingly places the burden on the “procuring entity”, not the chief procurement officer, to “publish within 60 days of the award of the procurement contract, a notice of the award of the procurement contract”.
This must include the winning bidder’s name and address; contract amount; bid title; name of the procuring entity; and bidding method used. The “within 60 days” timeframe, and Act’s implementation on September 1, means that the Government is seemingly in violation of the requirement to publish all contract awards between September 1 and March 18.
Mr Pintard, accusing the Prime Minister and his administration of double standards by attacking the Minnis government for lack of transparency and good governance when they were guilty of the same sins, argued: “What makes this more egregious is they are doing so at a time when they are talking about the omissions and gaps in the last administration. Now they are in the driver’s seat, what are they doing so that they have the moral authority to talk about these matters?”
The Public Procurement Act was intended to shine the light of transparency and accountability across the award of all public sector contracts, thus improving taxpayer value for money and reducing fraud, wastage and corruption by making it much harder for lucrative deals to be awarded to friends, family members, lovers and political cronies of the major parties.
it was also supposed to improve procurement efficiency by having all bids and contract awards handled through a centralised e-procurement supplier registry, with all companies interested in bidding registering with this portal. However, Daniel Ferguson, who headed the portal’s set-up before becoming a whistleblower critical of its roll-out, repeatedly voiced concern about the lack of agency buy-in and training plus shortages of human capital expertise.
And, upon coming to office, the Davis administration has frequently complained that the Public Procurement Act was passed into by the former government without any of the regulations, rules, guidelines and other supporting infrastructure to make it workable. It has also asserted that the law has mired government procurement in bureaucracy and red tape, complicating simple contract awards and making them more costly.
Senator Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, told Tribune Business in a voice note: “If you look at this Procurement Act, there’s a myriad of things that have to be put in place before this was enacted. As a matter of fact, this law was enacted without any of the foundational pieces which we are now putting in place.”
Mr Pintard’s comments came as Tribune Business yesterday queried whether the Government is in breach of the Public Financial Management Act by failing to publish the reports on its Budget performance for the first nine months of the 2021-2022 fiscal year as well as its public debt composition.
The Government’s own Budget website states that the Public Debt Management Act’s section 61 mandates that the Ministry of Finance’s debt management office is mandated, by law, to publish the quarterly Public Debt Statistical Bulletin “no later than 30 days after the end of each quarter of the fiscal year”.
Given that the third quarter of the 2021-2022 fiscal year ended on March 31, that report should have been released by April 30. The same deadline applies to the Budget performance report, but neither document has been made publicly available and it is now May 17. Mr Wilson could not be reached for comment on the matter while Clint Watson, the Prime Minister’s press secretary, promised to look into the matter and call back. No call was received before press time.
Many voters, given the assertions and allegations flying back and forth over the National Food Distribution Task Force and Public Procurement Act, are likely to conclude that neither party is better than the other when it comes to transparency and accountability.
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United States Virgin Island
The Office of Disaster Recovery announced Tuesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has jumpstarted the replacement of the St. Croix Wastewater system with a $30 million award to the Waste Management Authority. The funds will be used to begin the architectural and engineering design work for the island of St. Croix, and will allow the territory to begin the design in advance of the obligation for the system-wide replacement projected at $1.5 billion, O.D.R. said.
Late last year, FEMA determined that the damages caused by the storms in 2017, coupled with the age and deterioration of the island’s wastewater facilities, made full replacement the most cost-effective option to meet industry standards, stop frequent sewage overflows and resolve the need for recurring repairs.
“The award provides critical funding to assist the Authority with the procurement of a design firm to engage in proper planning as we begin the arduous process of modernizing the wastewater infrastructure throughout the Territory,” said WMA Executive Director Roger E. Merritt. He further explained that the Authority is now closer to construction as the WMA is working to solicit a firm to provide the design work, according to O.D.R.
“This is not just one step forward for the Waste Management Authority. It is also a critical piece to addressing the “One Dig” mandate,” said O.D.R. Director Adrienne L. Williams-Octalien. “The identification of funding to begin design work ensures that the replacement of wastewater lines is included in other infrastructure projects for electrical undergrounding and water line projects already on the drawing board. The Office of Disaster Recovery thanks FEMA for their proactive approach to addressing this issue and will continue to coordinate with consultants Witt O’Brien’s to identify solutions to moving the Recovery forward.”
The wastewater replacement determinations for St. Thomas and St. John are expected by the end of the year, according to the release.
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Jamaica
The Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) told the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) on Wednesday that a request from the municipal corporation for $77.2 million came early in the COVID-19 crisis to carry out maintenance and rehabilitation works in the tourism areas of Oho Rios, St Ann’s Bay, Brown’s Town, and Discovery Bay.
The TEF board, however, approved $46.8 million for Ocho Rios only, for sanitisation and deep cleaning at Island Village, the Ocho Rios Pier, Main Street, Turtle River Park, the Ocho Rios market, White River, and Fisherman’s Beach, Permanent Secretary Jennifer Griffith told the committee on Wednesday.
The bone of contention at the sitting was the municipal corporation’s emergency procurement of a sole contractor.
The committee decided that the arrangement between the municipal corporation and Rahim’s Cleaning and Trucking Limited should be subjected to a probe by the integrity commission, or another appropriate agency, to resolve a number of questions that surfaced at the meeting.
“These figures really seem inflated… this is beyond my scope. As far as I’m concerned, this needs to be looked at by some agency that is more equipped to understand these figures. I think this is an area for the contractor general to come in and take a look,” PAAC Chairman Dr Wykeham McNeill said, as members expressed dissatisfaction with the explanation for the selection process as well as the level of expenditure.
He said the rationale for the selection raised more questions than answers, pointing to the agreement with Rahim’s Cleaning and Trucking Limited dated March 26 this year, two months before the corporation received a letter of recommendation for the company from the regional operations manager of North Eastern Parks and Markets Waste Management.
“Even the letter itself is at best confusing… At no stage in this letter do they speak of sanitisation or any other issue of that nature. At best, this is very untidy and I’m not certain how you arrived at this position,” he stated.
However, deputy chief executive officer and chief engineering officer for the corporation Xavier Munroe insisted that the procurement process followed Government guidelines.
“We didn’t have a lot of time. We went directly to the NCC and we checked under sanitation; this is a contractor that has NCC in sanitisation — regardless of if they are doing work for another company in another category — this contractor has the NCC qualification in sanitisation,” he stressed.
Members also suggested that the line items for the works appeared to be inflated, with Manchester North Western Member of Parliament Mikael Phillips saying: “This is like you just cut and paste what you had on your estimate onto his invoice… What I would have expected with that amount being spent, that at least to see if he could come in within or below your estimate.”
“I can’t speak of it as [if] we did the cleaning to try and save money; we did the cleaning to try to save lives,” Munroe rejoined.
He also explained that the works involved “far more” than outlined in the submission documents.
Meanwhile, project director at TEF Johan Rampair explained that subsequent to the board approving the projects for the municipal corporation, other requests had come in that are now being investigated. He said such requests for funding have come from the municipal corporations of Kingston and St Andrew, St Catherine, and St Elizabeth.
The permanent secretary noted that the St Ann Municipal Corporation had “come out of the blocks early” with its request for the projects, but that the TEF board is now restructuring its budget to address more comprehensive sanitisation programmes for the remainder of the fiscal year.
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Trinidad and Tobago
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday knocked UNC Senator Wade Mark’s “outrageous” remarks regarding Quanten LLC.
“The Minister of Finance/Corporation Sole has responded in protection of the public interest. It is now for you (Express) to obtain from Wade Mark the facts surrounding his usual outrageous undermining efforts so as to prevent yourself and your profession from being used as an echo chamber for ambitious speculation and outright lies and UNC conspiracy theories,” the Prime Minister said via WhatsApp in response to questions from the Express.
Quanten LLC, the company interested in buying the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery, has also won bids to operate refineries in Aruba and Angola.
Energy Minister Stuart Young, in rubbishing questions that Mark raised about Quanten LLC on Sunday, has confirmed that the American company is engaged in the RFP process for the refinery and it is being handled by Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd (TPHL).
In a statement, Young said various arms of the United States government have communicated with him with respect to Quanten LLC, indicating its (Quanten’s) interest in the RFP process for the refinery and there has been support for the company as being an American-based entity.
Young stated that the company is engaged with TPHL and has to go through the standard and required processes in these types of matters and there is nothing further to be said at this stage.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert stated that the procurement process for the refinery has been closely monitored by the ministry as he, too, dismissed questions about Quanten.
125 years experience
On Sunday, Mark raised concerns about Quanten LLC, saying he was unable to locate the company’s headquarters except that a company “Quanten Inc” operated out of a “suite” in San Jose, California.
Mark said records at the California State Registry state that the company was owned by two brothers who are qualified electricians and who also owned Quanten Electrical Contracting Inc.
Two companies carrying the same name, he said, were also found registered in Texas.
These two companies, Quanten Angola Consortium LLC and Quanten Aruba Consortium LLC, were both registered by the same agent and attached to a house in Texas.
Mark expressed concern that Quanten LLC was bidding for this country’s billion-dollar Pointe-a-Pierre refinery and its official address is registered to a house.
Online searches by the Express yesterday showed up results for three companies with the Quanten name, in the US, Aruba and Angola.
According to quanten.us, Quanten LLC has a combined experience of over 125 years.
The company’s website stated that its work includes both small and large-scale business and project management in “high technology and power-related” projects.
This experience is in Japan, China, USA, Europe, India, Africa, Curacao and Southeast Asia and including more than 80 solar farms in the USA.
Jeff Meyers
The website lists two brothers as being co-founders of the company.
Jeff Meyers is the founder and board chairman of Quanten LLC and Quanten Electrical Contractor, Inc. (QEC), which provides electrical services for large commercial and industrial projects.
It stated that QEC collaborates with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) utility in the USA in projects involving grid connection, and retrofitting buildings with energy-saving solutions utilising incentive funds as designated by the State of California.
The website names Jerry Meyers as co-founder of Quanten LLC and Quanten Electrical Contractor, Inc. (QEC) and stated he has more than 30 years’ experience from electrician to design-build and project management. He most recently has been heading up the project oversight of all operational projects with Pacific Gas & Electric.
Aruba refinery
There are online reports about the company’s bid to operate in Aruba and Angola.
According to arubanative.com, since 2020 Quanten Consortium Aruba, LLC was ready to invest up to US$3.5 billion in a 100-year-old refining tradition in Aruba.
The report stated that Quanten Consortium Aruba, LLC (QCA, LLC) was selected to finalise the due diligence process, and negotiate and sign a binding contract to refurbish, upgrade and operate the Aruba Refinery and Terminal Complex.
The report quoted Jeff Meyers speaking about the project: “This day marks the beginning of a new chapter. Together with our participating companies, in the long term, we intend to support the refinery to significantly improve its financial performance. The closing of the deal will be a remarkable achievement for QCA and for the Aruban citizens.”
Angola refinery
Quanten Consortium Aruba LLC is listed as being head-quartered in San Jose, California.
Quanten also won the bid to operate a refinery in Angola.
The Oil and Gas Journal report, dated March 2021, stated that Angola’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Petroleum (MIREMPET) had awarded the country’s previously announced tender for construction of a 100,000-b/d grassroots refinery in Soyo, Zaire Province, to US-based Quanten Consortium Angola LLC.
It stated that as the winning consortium of eight groups of competitors vying for the project, Quanten will design, build, own, and operate the proposed deep-conversion refinery at Soyo, which will play a critical role in Angolan President João Lourenço’s programme of strengthening the African nation’s economy by helping reduce the country’s current reliance on expensive refined product imports.
The report stated that alongside construction of the refinery—which will have flexibility to process a variety of crudes for production of consumer-ready end products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and asphalt—Quanten separately said it will also:
*Design, build, own, and operate a tank farm and marine terminal for feedstock (including crude oil) delivered to and products exported from the refinery.
*Design, build, own, and operate all associated infrastructure, including an electric power generation plant, potable water plant, wastewater treatment plant, as well as all access roads and surrounding environmental developments at the site.
*Establish robust local content and economic development initiatives for Soyo City and Zaire Province.
The refinery is currently scheduled for start-up in 2024.
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