CCTV procurement process compromised
Trinidad and Tobago
MAJORITY State-owned Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) complained, in writing, that the Ministry of National Security’s September 2018 CCTV procurement process was “irretrievably compromised”.
The criticism of the ministry’s CCTV procurement process came in a letter written by former TSTT CEO, Ronald Walcott, dated September 17, 2018 and addressed to retired Colonel George Robinson, the then director of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA).
Walcott’s letter was copied to the then Minister of National Security, Stuart Young, former minister of Public Utilities, Robert Le Hunte, former TSTT chairman, Robert Mayers and the procurement manager at the SSA.
Walcott’s letter indicated the Request for Proposals process for the Re-engineering and Expansion of the National Security Network was due to close at 1.30 p.m. on September 7, 2018.
Bids from TSTT, Digicel and Cable & Wireless Communications (Flow) were received by the deadline. But at 1.48 p.m. on the deadline day, the bidders received an email from the SSA’s procurement department informing the three companies that an extension of time was approved for the submission of proposals. The new deadline was put to September 21, 2018. That email came 18 minutes after the deadline for the closure of the bidding process.
According to the Walcott letter: “Digicel, in particular, noted that the technical submissions of Digicel and other bidders who had submitted same in advance of the deadline, had been opened.
“Almost contemporaneously with Digicel’s email, the SSA procurement department sent an email to bidders at 2:32 p.m. indicating that the ‘opening process was handled by the Ministry’ and the extension of the deadline for submission of proposals was not communicated (presumably to Ministry officials) in a timely manner, and as such ‘[r]egrettably, the extension would have to be withdrawn’.”
The Walcott letter indicated there were contradictory emails and letters on the issue of whether the extension of the deadline was withdrawn. It was withdrawn, according to an email from the procurement officer at the Ministry of National Security, who wrote: “[O]n the recommendation of the Director, Strategic Services Agency, the Chairman, Special Tenders Committee has agreed to extend the date for the close of tender from September 7, 2018 to September 21, 2018, 1:30 p.m.…. Formal correspondence on this matter will follow.”
In the letter, Walcott said: “A total contradiction of communications to bidders is clear evidence that the SSA recognised that the communication to bidders of the granted extension of time was too late.”
The former TSTT CEO also had an issue with the fact that the company’s technical bid had been opened.
“TSTT collected its packages on Wednesday September 12, 2018 and noted that its technical submission has been opened, as was previously advised by Digicel in the email mentioned at paragraph 2 above,” according to Walcott.
His letter then stated: “Having regard to all of the foregoing, the tender process for the Re-Engineering and Expansion of the National Security CCTV Network has been irretrievably compromised, and any further progress of this RFP is patently unfair.
“Proper procurement procedure dictates that all bidders be presented with a fair opportunity to submit proposals in accordance with the procedure outlined in the RFP to which they are responding. It follows, therefore, that any extension to the deadline for submission of proposals must be communicated to all bidders well prior to the deadline date and time, and most certainly prior to any bids being opened. It is noteworthy that the extension of the original deadline from August 30 to September 7, 2018 was communicated nine (9) days in advance of the original deadline date.
“TSTT wishes to register its strongest objection to its technical bid being opened prior to an extension of time being granted, in circumstances where its bid information can be presumed to be public knowledge, which immediately prejudices its submission.”
Remedies
TSTT called on the Ministry of National Security and/or the Strategic Services Agency to:
• Retract the informal and formal correspondence and communications to bidders advising of an extension of time for the submission of responses to the RFP;
• Provide TSTT with a list of all parties which submitted proposals prior to the close of the tender at 1.30 p.m. on September 7, 2018;
• Produce to TSTT a copy of the SSA and/or Ministry’s documented procurement policies and procedures, with specific reference to the grant and communication of an extension of the closing date/time for an RFP, the tender closing process and the opening and recordal of proposals submitted; and
• Cancel the RFP process due to the procedural missteps outlined above, and issue a new and comprehensive RFP which addresses the concerns raised by TSTT in previous correspondence in order to allow for a comprehensive technical and financial submission by all prospective bidders.
At a news conference on April 14, 2022, Opposition MP, Roodal Moonilal indicated that the RFP process was not cancelled and replaced by a new RFP, but was concluded with the award of a contract to a multinational company called Johnson Controls, which did not submit a bid in the September 2018 RFP.
Energy Minister Stuart Young, who was Minister of National Security, from August 6, 2018 tp April 18, 2021, did not responded to a WhatsApp message asking him to confirm that the contract was awarded to Johnson Controls.
Police called in
In a WhatsApp interview with the Trinidad Express published on April 13, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said the Government had stopped the award of an October 2021 CCTV data connectivity solution contract to Irish-owned Digicel.
Attorney General Reginald Armour was requested to do a review of the process and report back to the Cabinet.
The Prime Minister told the Express: “When the Cabinet discovered where they were going, a demand was made to see the details of the process that resulted in the concerns you also expressed. The documents were submitted and it is out of dissatisfaction and concern that the matter has been halted and sent to the AG for his advice and guidance.
“This is not the first time we have had issue with the attempt to award a contract in this Ministry. The Police had to be called in to trace ‘lost’ documents.”
Last Sunday, the Sunday Express asked the Prime Minister if he was referring to the 2018 RFP process when he referenced the Police being called in.
In response, Dr Rowley said: “The reference to the Fraud Squad that I made had to do with the mysterious disappearance of certain key documents pertinent to the procurement process at the Ministry of National Security/Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.”
Role of the SSA
Walcott’s September 2018 letter was addressed to the former director of the SSA, which is T&T’s intelligence-gathering agency, the letter was copied to the manager of procurement at the SSA and it mentions the SSA procurement department on five occasions.
Last Sunday, the Sunday Express asked Prime Minister Rowley if he could confirm that the SSA was also in charge of the 2021 procurement process.
The Prime Minister’s response was: “The procurement of cameras has been, and is, a matter dealt with by the Ministry of National Security and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.
“The SSA is a user and advisory agency engaged in information gathering in the widest sense.”
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