Guyana
A data entry error resulted in the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) listing only one of the three companies in a consortium that bid to audit Guyana’s cost oil and the agency’s website has since made a correction to reflect all the companies involved.
Following concerns raised by a consortium of local accounting and auditing firms that NPTAB’s files only showed only one firm listed as submitting the tender, an executive of the agency explained to Stabroek News that it was a minor glitch in the logging entry.
When checked yesterday, NPTAB’s website did indeed reflect the change in name from Eclisar to RHVE Consortium.
This newspaper reported on Sunday that according to NPTAB, only one company – Eclisar – had submitted a tender to audit Guyana’s cost oil. No sooner than the article was published, the consortium expressed concern saying that Eclisar was one of three companies in the RHVE consortium that had bid.
“A consortium of firms submitted [a tender] but we see it reported and stated on the website of NPTAB as only one company,” a representative of the consortium had told this newspaper.
The consortium had originally consisted of the firms: Ram and McRae, Haynes and Ramdihal, Vitality Consulting, and Eclisar Financial & Professional Services (EFP).
It is now only Ramdihal and Haynes, Vitality Consulting, and Eclisar Financial & Professional Services (EFP).
Ram and McRae Managing Partner, Christopher Ram, told this newspaper yesterday that the firm is no longer a part of the consortium.
When the tenders for the Ministry of Natural Resources project – consultancy services for cost recovery audit validation of the Government of Guyana’s profit oil share – were opened last Tuesday, it was stated that only EFP had submitted a tender, according to NPTAB records.
That bid was pegged at $340.7 million.
The contract to audit the US$460 million pre-contract costs had been awarded to the United Kingdom firm IHS Markit and it had cost Guyana US$300,000.
RHVE said that it responded to a request for proposals for the project and when it submitted its tender document the cover letter had all of the companies listed.
On the matter of cost recovery auditing from 2017 to 2020, Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, had stated during the 2022 Budget debate and in a written response that monies for this project had been appropriated this year to the tune of some US$250,000 ($52 million).
In November last year, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had announced that ExxonMobil’s post-2017 expenditure for the Liza-1 and Liza-2 wells would not be audited as government was not able to select a strong local group to undertake it. This statement was at odds with the fact that the government had advertised last year for foreign firms.
The comments resulted in a string of criticisms from the public with many emphasising the need for the sums to be professionally scrutinised. It was compounded by the fact that it was over one year since the audit of the US$460 million. That report is yet to be seen.
Noted too was that the statutory two-year period for the 2017-2019 auditing had expired and there was a concern that the company might object to its books being audited after the contracted time had elapsed.
But government has stressed that the auditing of the over US$9 billion sum can still be undertaken and as such there is no need to request an extension from ExxonMobil. Former APNU+AFC minister, David Patterson, had questioned if the Ministry of Natural Resources or any other agency with oversight of the oil & gas sector had approached ExxonMobil for an extension of the deadline for auditing the expenses.
The Minister of Natural Resources had offered assurances. “We have a commitment from Exxon. There is no such [objection], they are not against us doing it [later].”
ExxonMobil has told this newspaper that it is confident of its bookkeeping matters and transparency of the company. It added that it has never shied away from audit requests and that it submits periodic reports on its spending to a number of government agencies here.
“ExxonMobil Guyana considers audits a normal part of our operations and cooperates with the government so it can fulfill its obligations. We are fully transparent with the Government on our budgets and cost banks for each block and have implemented extensive cost controls across our business in line with our contracts and the laws of the country,” ExxonMobil spokesperson Janelle Persaud had said in response to questions from Stabroek News.
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Trinidad and Tobago
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) breached sections of the Procurement Act and facilitated bid rigging and collusion among stakeholders at taxpayers’ expense.
Numerous instances of single-contract agreements approved in excess of the Office of the Commissioner’s delegated authority of $1 million and contracts broken up to bypass the delegated authority of both the Ministerial Tenders Committee and Central Tenders Board were uncovered.
These findings and more are contained in the Ministry of Finance Central Audit Committee’s in its Final Report on the Audit of Procurement of Goods and Services and the Hiring of the Staff on Contract undertaken by the TTPS from 2017- 2021.
Various instances of financial mismanagement were unearthed, with the Report noting that the Commissioner did not have the authority to sign off on contracts over $1 million to procure goods and services.
Griffith was Police Commissioner from 2018 to 2021, while Stephen Williams was acting CoP from 2012 to August 2018.
According to the Report submitted earlier this month to the ministry, the significant risks identified by Central Authority for consideration during the audit engagement were as follows:
“Collusion and/or conflict of interest among stakeholders; and fraud and irregularities leading to financial losses and reputation damage; Breaches of internal controls; Weak control environment; Procurement non-compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; Unauthorised expenditure and payments; The non-achievement of Value for money and Financial losses”.
Red flags
Additionally, the Audit raised a plethora of red flags over the manner in which multi-million-dollar contracts were deliberately broken up to bypass oversight and scrutiny in the awarding of contracts. By breaking up the contracts, various businesses were facilitated and both the Ministerial Tenders Committee and the Central Tenders Board overlooked.
“These procurements were done internally by TTPS despite the fact that the values exceeded the CoP’s limit. As such they were neither forwarded to the Special Tenders Committee and the Central Tenders Board for approval. This process is an abuse of the TTPS’s policy as it is a direct contravention of the delegation of authority for the procurement of Goods and Services outlined in the Procurement Policy,” the Report stated.
The Audit noted: “There were numerous instances where single-contract agreements approved were in excess of the Commissioner’s delegated authority of $1 million and contracts were broken up to bypass the delegated authority of both the Ministerial Tenders Committee and Central Tenders Board.
“From the analysis of the procurement transactions undertaken during the period 2017 to present, there were nine instances where contracts were approved internally by the TTPS of which the Commissioner did not have the delegated authority,” it stated.
Overall, the individual requests for the Commissioner’s approval on contracts were issued separately, days apart, to reflect individual transactions.
“As observed, the individual contracts were issued to the same contractor to perform the same service which implied splitting of contracts. These contracts relate to the procurement of Motor Vehicles, Minor Equipment, Information Technology and Development Projects under the Public Sector Investment Programme,” the Report stated.
Memo recommended
Based on the findings, Central Audit recommended the TTPS should issue a memorandum to the Executive Management and all personnel involved in the procurement of goods and services, making them aware of the following penalties imposed under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Regulations for breaches of the Act:
lSplitting of Procurement—Summary Conviction—$500,000 and imprisonment of one year;
lFailure to report collusion—Summary Conviction—$500,000 and imprisonment of one year;
lConduct influencing public officer (bribery, conflict of interest, corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, coercive or obstructive practices—Conviction—$1 million and imprisonment of five years;
lBid rigging, influencing, procurement proceedings—Conviction—$5 million and imprisonment of ten years.
$51 million vehicle leasing/rental
The Report pointed to a $51.1-million-plus contract signed on December 30, 2020, between the TTPS and a marketing company.
Both Griffith and former TTPS head Legal Christian Chandler were signatories to the lease/rental agreement.
Sunday Express checks at the Company Registry revealed that the company is owned by a businessman currently before the courts charged alongside Chandler for breaching Covid-19 regulations following an incident last year on board Chandler’s yacht, Knot Guilty.
The Report pointed out that the TTPS entered a vehicle lease agreement for the lease of 114 vehicles for a period of three years from January 1, 2021, at a cost of over $51.1 million”.
A breakdown of the vehicles revealed the allocation and costs:
1. Special Operations Response Team (SORT) – 47 vehicles – monthly cost -$559,125; total three year cost – $20,128,500
2. Office of the Commissioner of Police – 33 vehicles – monthly cost-$428,062.50; total three year cost – $15,410,250.
3. Inter-Agency Task Force–34 vehicles–monthly cost-$434,700; total three-year cost – $434,700.
Based on the Request for proposals (RFP) for the lease/rental of vehicles, the scope in the RFP document specified a lease/rental period of one year.
However, the lease agreement with the company reflected a three-year period from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2024, the Report noted.
An in-house Tenders Evaluation Committee (TEC) comprising of Sheldon Edghill — head executive committee; Someet Ramroop — head administration and Fareed Mohammed — procurement manager, via a report dated December 11, 2020, noted that six companies were invited to submit proposals on a selective tender basis via a Letter of RFP by the TTPS dated November 16, 2020.
The Audit Report said the TEC proposed that the TTPS enter into contractual arrangements with three firms out of the four which submitted RFP, but a contract was awarded only to the marketing company. Further, based on the contract awarded, the Commissioner did not have the authority to authorise the expenditure of $51.1 million, the report added.
Contracts split
Several procurement transactions were broken up and based on the documentary evidence shown to the Audit Committee, time period, scope of works and location relative to contracts as detailed, the Central Audit said it “is of the view that the contracts were split to bypass the delegation of authority”.
The report cited several instances where contracts were broken up and even signed off on the same day. “The individual requests for CoP approval were issued in such a manner to deliberately facilitate the approvals within the relegated authority of $1 million,” the report stated. “Overall, the individual requests for CoP approval were submitted days apart and/or contracts were tendered out under different phases/packages to deliberately facilitate the approval of contracts within the CoP’s limit of $1 million.”
Among the contracts “split to bypass…to Special Tenders Committee and/or the Central Tenders Board were:
1. Stun guns and N95 masks
lVendor (named) Invoice # 107614 ; Invoice date – January 30, 2020 – Cost – $999,600
lInvoice # 107617; Invoice date – January 30, 2020 – Cost – $997,000. Collective total on both invoices: $1,996,600.
“Both invoices had the same goods and services,” the Report noted.
The TEC memorandum dated August 19, 2019, recommended that a sole selective tender be awarded to this vendor for the supply of 200 conducted electrical weapons/stun guns and holsters, 1,200 cartridges and 200 pepper sprays with carrying case at a value of $999,600, exclusive of VAT and Customs Duty. Another memorandum was presented by the TEC dated September 5, 2019, for the same goods and services for the value of $997,000.
Other contracts “split to bypass… to Special Tenders Committee and/or the Central Tenders Board included:
Procurement of N95 masks
lVendor #1: – 10,000 N95 ; request for approval- 16 March 2020; cost – $590,000
l15,000 KN95; request for approval – 16 April 2020; cost – $590,625. Total: $1,180,628.
lVendor #2: 26,000 N95; request for approval – April 7, 2020; cost – $728,000
l28,000 N95; request for approval – April 21, 2020; cost – $784,000
l26,000 N95; request for approval – May 7, 2020; cost – $728,000. Total: $2,240,000
Bodycam contracts
Other contracts included one for bodycams which was valued at $2.5 million, but was split into three: $987,500 on February 2021; $956,250 on February 16 and $590,625 on May 10, 2021. “All transactions were done via sole select… Notably two transactions were submitted for the CoP’s approval just one day apart… Although it was indicated by the Head of IT that these transactions were not identical, Central Audit is of the view that the overall payments relate to the provision of bodycams and associated components. As such, subdividing each component implied splitting of contracts to ensure the limits did not exceed the CoP’s delegated authority,” the Report said.
Another contract for the command and control equipment saw three separate requests of approval on one day—February 4, 2020 for $888,960 $917,564 and $828,914.63 for a total contract value of $2.5 million.
Contracts for coastal and riverine vessels (total value – $2 million) were split into three. Refurbishment/renovation works on the football, cricket and hockey fields in which the combined contract awarded totalled over $7.3 million were done the same way. “All projects were tendered using selective tendering, inviting firms pre-qualified by the TTPS,” the Report stated.
Improper contract administration
The Audit Report highlighted several instances where full contract payments were recommended by the head of the Planning , Research, Project Implementation Unit and cheques issued by the Finance Branch prior to the completion of contracted works.
“According to the projects process outlined, the payments commence subsequent to site inspection and project completion certificate. “However, full contract payments were authorised resulting in cheques issued despite the works not being 100 per cent complete.”
The following projects were highlighted in the Audit Report:
lThe expansion of facilities at Homicide Area East – Electrical /Power Distribution
lElectrical infrastructural works at the Homicide Bureau of Investigations, Arouca
lRefurbishment works on the 4th floor, Police Administration Building
lCivil works associated with the Divisional Command Centre – Central
lRefurbishment works to media room, audio visual unit at the Police Administration Building
Lack of transparency
Vendors on the TTPS’ pre-qualified list of suppliers and contractors were required to submit a contractor registration form, a company profile and statutory documents.
However, the Audit Report stated in reviewing the TTPS’s adherence to the procedures for pre-qualification process, “there were no contractor registration forms for 80 per cent of the contractors on the pre-qualified list”.
Further, it indicated that the pre-qualification process evaluated the contractor’s technical capability and financial capacity, but “there was no documentation on file to support such evaluation. In the absence of records, the entire pre-qualification process lacked transparency”.
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Trinidad and Tobago
THE brother-in-law of a senior Cabinet minister received a huge chunk of the questionable multi-million-dollar contracts awarded by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) under the tenure of former commissioner of police Gary Griffith.
Checks by the Express revealed that, prior to 2018, the minister’s relative was never on the pre-qualified listing of contractors/ goods and service providers to the TTPS.
Based on the findings by the Ministry of Finance Central Audit Committee — Final Report on the Audit of Procurement of Goods and Services and the Hiring of the Staff on Contract by the TTPS, the company in question benefited heavily from contracts being “broken up” .
The Audit raised red flags over the manner in which multi-million-dollar contracts were deliberately broken up to bypass oversight and scrutiny in the awarding of contracts. Instead, by breaking up the contracts various businessmen were facilitated and both the Ministerial Tenders Committee and the Central Tenders Board overlooked, the report stated.
“These procurements were done internally by TTPS despite the fact that the values exceeded the CoP’s limit. As such they were neither forwarded to the Special Tenders Committee and the Central Tenders Board for approval. This process is an abuse of the TTPS’ policy as it is a direct contravention of the delegation of authority for the procurement of Goods and Services outlined in the Procurement Policy”, the Report stated.
In addition, concern was raised by the Audit Committee that several contractors on the pre-qualification listing, inclusive of the minister’s relative, did not have valid statutory documents, yet the contracts were awarded to them.
The three documents submitted which were not valid were Income Tax Clearance Certificate, Valid National Insurance Board Compliance Certificate and Value Added Tax Clearance Certificate.
Various instances of financial mismanagement were unearthed, with the Report noting that the then-commissioner did not have the authority to sign off on contracts over $1 million to procure goods and services.
According to the Report submitted earlier this month to the Finance Ministry, “The significant risks identified by Central Authority for consideration during the audit engagement were as follows:
Collusion and/or conflict of interest among stakeholders
*Fraud and irregularities leading to financial losses and reputation damage
* Breaches of internal controls
* Weak control environment
* Procurement non-compliance with legal and regulatory requirements
* Unauthorised expenditure and payments
* The non-achievement of Value for money and Financial losses.
TTPS Sporting
facilities —$7.3 million facelift
The Audit Committee in its Report noted that works undertaken by the TTPS to refurbish and renovate its football, cricket and hockey fields at the Police Training Academy in St James, cost taxpayers a little over $7.3 million.
“All projects were tendered using selective tendering, inviting firms pre-qualified by the TTPS. Based on the project files presented, the combined contract awarded totalled over $7.3 million”
UK-based Lavender Consultants Ltd (LAVCON) was selected by the TTPS to supply artificial grass for the hockey field at a cost of $772,127.78.
Additionally, the Central Audit team enquired into the date the turf was ordered “but was only provided with a memorandum dated July 28, 2020, from Lavender Consultants Ltd thanking the Head Planning, Research Project Implementation UNit (PRPIU) for the opportunity to order the artificial grass pitch.
“As such, no documents were provided to the Central Audit to verify how Lavender Consultants Ltd was chosen for the award of contract for the supply of the artificial grass pitch which was valued at $772,127.78,” the report stated.
Recommendations
Based on its findings, the Audit Committee recommended that the TTPS conduct due diligence when awarding and tendering for contracts. Some of the recommendations are:
* The Planning, Research Project Implementation Unit (PRPIU) must immediately refrain from authorising payments and certifying works as completed prior to the completion of the procurement contract
* The TTPS should ensure compliance with all Request For Proposals (RFP) required documentation to accurately support and reflect the proponent’s responsiveness before being recommending for award.
* The Tenders Evaluation Committee (TEC) must ensure consistent application of these requirements during the evaluation process to ensure fairness and transparency.
* The TTPS should ensure that there is proper documentary evidence to support all decisions relating to the tendering process and ensure this evidence is available for third party reviews and auditing purposes
* The TTPS should develop a formal system governing the selection of contractors from the pre-qualified list of contractors. This will strengthen the integrity of the process and mitigate against subjectivity and bias.
* Effective immediately, the TTPS should conduct a pre-qualification exercise for contractors and suppliers. This should ensure the pre-qualified vendor list comprises:
Legitimate companies that have fulfilled their obligations to pay all required taxes and statutory contributions; and have the necessary competence, personnel, financial resources and equipment capable of performing the procurement contract at competitive prices.
* Furthermore the TTPS must immediately undertake competitive tendering via open tendering for the lease/rental of vehicles to ensure competitive prices.
* The TTPS must ensure that all payments to contractors are made only upon successful completion of contracted works and services and in accordance with the contract agreements to ensure there are no inappropriate payments for services that are not performed satisfactorily.
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Jamaica
DESPITE more than $200 million being earmarked to fix the three miles of road between Wakefield and Deeside in Trelawny, residents will have to wait at least another two months for work to begin.
Last September, Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Works Everald Warmington toured the area and announced that $218 million had been set aside to repair the three miles of road. But to date, nothing has been done.
Following Warmington’s announcement, Member of Parliament for Northern Trelawny Tova Hamilton, in her maiden presentation to the House of Representatives, rattled off a number of road projects that would have ended “years of nothingness”, noting that “roads are the arteries through which an economy pulses. It is vital to any development agenda”.
However, in an interview with The Gleaner on Wednesday, Stephen Shaw, communications manager of the National Works Agency, said based on procedure, no road repairs would be taking place anytime soon.
No work will begin
“Any work of that magnitude has three stages to pass through. There is a tender evaluation, public procurement commission and Cabinet approval. Until all three are completed, no work will begin,” Shaw said.
However, he expressed optimism that after the Budget is read in March, some work will begin.
In the meantime, residents have described the roadway as among the most neglected in the parish and said it has caused them to be spending excessively on car parts.
Sharnette Eccleston, a resident of Deeside, who is also a recording artiste, labelled the road as “disgraceful”.
“The road is most disgraceful. A journey that should take maximum 10 minutes is taking a half an hour. If you leave your home and forget anything, you don’t turn back. You don’t want to drive into the many deep potholes,” said Eccleston, finding it difficult to hide her frustration
Another Deeside resident, Roger Winter, a transport operator, bemoaned the negative impact that the condition of the roadway is having on his capacity to earn, as he constantly has to be spending money on replacing motor vehicle parts.
“I hardly make any money. I ply the Falmouth to Deeside route. I make fewer trips per day and there is constant damage to my front end,” related the 12-year veteran operator.
Winter, whose route takes him through Wakefield, compared his experience to that of a friend and fellow public passenger vehicle operator, who operates a different route.
“We bought the same type of vehicle on the same day. He runs the Duncans to Falmouth route,” shared Winter. “When I had gone through three sets of front-end parts, he had not changed one.”
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