While denying he commandeered the Cruise Pier Project, former Works Minister under the previous NDP government, Mark Vanterpool conceded that the procurement process to select a developer could have been different.
A Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report done in February 2014 stated that Vanterpool along with project consultant Claude Skelton Cline received three proposals to develop the cruise port. The report said this was done “through a process that lacked transparency and [one that] did not involve any form of public tender or open solicitation for this multi-million-dollar public project. These were assessed by the former consultant and forwarded to the minister for decision.”
Addressing the Commission of Inquiry (COI) where he appeared to give evidence on the project, Vanterpool said he did not recall any bids or invitations being done at the time. Instead, he insisted that the three bidders – CaribInvest, Trident Development Enterprise LLC, and Tortola Port Partners – were simply able to make presentations to the government because there was an understanding at the time that the BVI was seeking to develop its cruise tourism industry.
“The government made a policy that went forward to develop the cruise pier, and three persons made a presentation made to the government. Now, that may not have been the exact procurement process that should have been followed, but that is what happened,” Vanterpool further told the COI.
The Cruise Pier Project had a final reported cost of $82.9 million which represented more than $30 million above the initial estimate. Vanterpool later claimed that the estimate was incomplete.
Why Vanterpool hired port development novice, Skelton Cline
In explaining his decision to hire Skelton Cline as a consultant for the project, Vanterpool told the COI he simply needed a ‘focus’ person he could trust to execute the project in the way that he wanted.
He agreed that the former consultant was hired through a petty contract amounting to $96,000. Vanterpool said he did not have to take that to Cabinet to get a tender waiver, since the contract value was below $100,000.
The former Works Minister further said he hired Skelton Cline despite knowing he had no background or expertise in port development.
As he underscored that government will keep implementing policies across the board for small businesses’ growth, Minister with responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh says that the bid security for contracts under $7 million has been removed and he lauded the increased participation of small contractors in the public bidding process.
He explained that as government works to ensure that at least 20% of state contracts go to small contractors, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) implemented a system where those bidding will now sign a self-declaration form guaranteeing their commitment for contracts $7 million and under, instead of the previously required bid security.
Tarachand Balgobin “We feel that the small businesses of today are the medium and large businesses of tomorrow and as they are helped, we would see more and more small entrepreneurs entering the economic space here. Government has taken a number of steps to make it easier for small businesses to participate in the bidding process. NPTAB, for example, has taken a number of steps to simply encourage more and more participation in the public procurement process,” Dr. Singh told the Sunday Stabroek in an interview.
“We actively believe in promoting small businesses, and that is across board with assistance, as you will see, from the Small Business Bureau…and other agencies as I have listed, such as NPTAB et cetera, all playing their part to encourage small entrepreneurs,” he added.
Dr Singh pointed to works done under current Chairman of NPTAB Tarachand Balgobin, such as small businesses being given a 5% advantage in bidding and the removal of the bid security.
Balgobin noted that in order to acquire bid security, a contractor would have to go to the bank or to an insurer to secure a guarantee. “For the bank to give you that bid security, you would have to have collateral; some assets. If you don’t have that asset base, but you have the skill, the competency, the experience, the papers and all of that, you still wouldn’t qualify. You would not have qualified. But we have taken that off,” he explained to this newspaper.
He continued, So now you have what is called a Bid Securing Declaration. You don’t have to find any money. All you have to do is to sign a declaration that is incorporated in the bid, which says that if you don’t comply—as in the same way you would have had a bid security—you are voluntarily saying to the government ‘Throw me out’”.
The NPTAB Chairman said that in the same way that a defaulting contractor would lose the bid security, with the declaration process they would accept liability to be penalised by government, which could extend to their ability to be considered for future contracts.
‘Margin of preference’
In March of this year, Balgobin had explained that to allow small businesses access to 20% of government procurement, the NPTAB had implemented a 5% margin of preference to those businesses that qualify under law.
The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development today issued an invitation for bids for the restoration of City Hall.
The invitation will be seen as a major first step towards saving the crumbling, historic building which has languished for years and was recently ruled again as unfit for occupation.
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall had told Stabroek News last week that the tender would be out shortly.
The notice in today’s Sunday Stabroek said that the duration of the project is 18 months.
No specifications about the work required on the neo-gothic-style building were included in the advertisement. Tenders have to be submitted no later than July 20th to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.
Dharamlall had last week told Stabroek News that the government will be leading the process for the restoration of City Hall. The minister said he had spoken with City Mayor Ubraj Narine regarding the relocation of staff from the decrepit building. He noted that Sherry Jerrick, Town Clerk (Ag), did indicate that the council had already begun the process of moving staff.
In a recent inspection done on the City Hall building, City Engineer Colvern Venture concluded that the building has deteriorated further and urgent relocation of staff is necessary. This assessment coincides with the Guyana Fire Service’s own assessment of the City Hall building. Fire Chief Kalamadeen Edoo, in a brief comment, said the City Hall building early in 2020 was inspected and various deficiencies were found. Subsequently, it advised that the staff relocate.
In his budget presentation in February this year, Dharamlall had announced that a sum of $100 million had been allocated for the restoration of the City Hall building. He said then that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration is determined to restore the historic building and works will commence this year. He had also said that President Irfaan Ali had set up an inter-ministerial committee to rebuild the city.
It is unclear what full restoration of City Hall and the preservation of its aesthetics will cost.
The original construction of City Hall was completed in June 1889. It was designed by Fr Ignatius Scoles.
The Ministry of Infrastructure Development has also announced the launch of several road projects. In February last year, GOB, through a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and grant funding from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (UKCIF), announced the paving of the Coastal Highway. Love News spoke with Chief Engineer at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Lennox Bradley, who gave an update on the works being done on this vital piece of road.
Lennox Bradley, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development: “We also have under construction the coastal highway. That’s about 36.3 miles of road. That project is at least a year in construction, it has another year and a half before it’s completion and Imer Hernandez was awarded the contract for the coastal highway upgrade. Again that was an open tender process. It was open, it was let to both international and national firms. Again we were lucky in having a local firm being awarded that contract. Again it was in accordance with the procurement regulation of the funding agency. That road will be extremely helpful to the development of Belize. It reduces journey time and it makes the transportation industry a bit more efficient. So we really in terms of the national road network the Ministry is making great strides in trying to improve access, improving connectivity for Belizeans in general.”
Bradley explained more about the ministry’s efforts in the south and how they were able to provide the residents of Machakilha Village with greater road access.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) — Caricom’s outgoing Secretary General, Irwin LaRocque says “much more” could have been achieved within the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the time had come to allow member states who could proceed to the ideals of the initiative to do so.
Speaking on Monday at the opening ceremony of the 42nd annual meeting of Caricom leaders, LaRocque nonetheless insisted that the regional integration movement had been a catalyst for significant improvement in the lives of the people of the region.
LaRocque, who is demitting office later this month after serving two five-year terms as the region’s top public servant, said that the CSME, had been the driving force behind several policies, programmes and systems for a further deepening of the integration process.
“A lot of time and effort have been spent putting in place policies, programmes and systems for the private sector, labour and the overall population to benefit from the CSME,” LaRocque told the opening ceremony of the 42nd annual meeting of Caricom leaders.
The CSME, which came into being in 2006, allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services across the region, and LaRocque said that the categories of free movement of skills have been expanded and that a protocol outlining the rights of spouses and dependents who accompany the skilled worker to another member state has been agreed.
He said new business opportunities have been created. A public procurement protocol opening a market estimated at five billion US dollars for businesses within the member states has been signed, and the online dashboard advertising tenders has been established.
The outgoing secretary general said that the aviation sector has also been liberalised with the coming into force of the Multilateral Air Services Agreement.
“It is my expectation that as more airlines make use of this agreement, it will allow for greater choice of movement throughout our community and contribute, with competition, to lowering airfares,” LaRocque said, adding “these are but some examples of what has been put in place within the last decade for the people of our community to be able to realise the benefits of the CSME as a lived experience”.
He said other steps have been made to buttress the welfare of the people of the community and that there has been progress in greater cooperation among member states to combat crime in the region, as well as building a legal architecture.
“Three major legal instruments were agreed to in this regard. I refer to the Caricom Arrest Warrant Treaty, the Treaty with Respect to Return and Sharing of Recovered Assets from Criminal Activity, and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty,” LaRocque said, noting that these treaties provide the regional law enforcement and justice systems with the tools to engage those whose criminal activities respect no borders.
But he acknowledged that he would be the “first to recognise that more could have been accomplished, particularly with the CSME”.
“A lot of preparatory technical work has been done, and redone, by the Secretariat. But because of our decision-making process, we can only move as fast as the slowest member state.”
