“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.
UDeCOTT clarifies e-tender glitch
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.