8 foreign firms among 11 bidders

Aug 10, 2011 News

Laptop project re-tender…

Eight overseas companies are among 11 firms that have submitted bids for the initial supply of 27,000 laptops for government’s One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) project.
The re-tendering for supplies of the laptops or the smaller netbooks, part of an ambitious project by government to equip 90,000 poor families with the computers, saw the bid opening process attract a packed gathering yesterday at the offices of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Ministry of Finance, Main Street.
It was but a strong indication of the intense interest that the project, with this lot valued at a lucrative $1.8B, has attracted from the business community.
Of the previous three bidders, only one – Giftland Office Max – participated again in the process.
Both CCS and Digital Technology, companies which submitted bids in the earlier tender, were not mentioned.
Last month, the OLPF office said the re-tendering for the laptops was imperative, as “none of the bids submitted in the first round of tender were fully compliant with the tender requirements”. Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh had said that the government decided not to give CCS, which was the company nearest to meeting requirement, the contract, and to move to re-tender instead.
In re-tendering, the government is moving to adjust the technical specifications for the laptops it wants.
The re-tender also made adjustments in the bid documents for specifications including such issues as the technical specifications of the hardware to be procured, the software specs to be preloaded on the machines and the capacity of the suppliers to offer and service the required warranty provisions.
Already, the initial applications have seen some 40,000 plus families expressing interest, Kaieteur News has been told.
Requirements
The bidding, conducted through the International Competitive Bidding (ICB) procedures, required bidders to show evidence of technical experience and financial capacity; manufacturer’s authorization and warranty; audited financial statements for the past three years from a recognized/authorized agency; and submission of the bid security. A margin of preference for eligible domestic bids would not be applied.
According to the bid documents, a contract will be awarded to the bidder whose “offer has been determined to be substantially responsive, meets the pre-qualification criteria and has the highest total evaluated bid points.”
Regarding the specifications of the Netbook/Laptop, the bid documents made it clear what the requirements would be.
It is expected that the memory will be at least 2.0GB; a display screen of 10.1 inches; camera of 0.3 megapixels; two USB 2.0 ports; 1 RJ-45; headphones; microphones, card reader: MMC/SD Video Adaptor; Integrated Video with an operating system of a minimum Genuine Windows 7 Starter English (OEM).
It will also include a minimum two hours battery operational life and has the capacity to handle wireless data. In addition to anti-virus protection, the laptop or netbook should also give a one-year manufacturer’s warranty on parts and labour.
The overseas companies making bids were required to provide an authorized representative (s) in Guyana.
“Should an international bidding company not have representation in Guyana, it will confirm in writing as part of its bid to establish a local authorized representative within 21 days of signing of the contract and to provide copies of the NIS certificates of its local authorized representative once the representative has been established,” the government’s e-procure website had said.
Bidders also had to submit an authorization from a manufacturer for the supply of items with contact information to validate authorization.
Also needed was bid security, audited financial statements – for the past three available years preceding the year of the bid – and product brochures.
“…Documentary evidence to demonstrate that the company and/or agent has been in business of supplying similar equipment and has an office in Guyana to facilitate technical support, after sales service and warranty enforcement when needed. International bidders who do not have an office and authorized representative in Guyana must provide a declaration with their submitted bid stating that if awarded the contract they will establish a local representative and office in Guyana within twenty-one (21) days of signing the contract to provide spare parts, after sales service and warranty enforcement.”
The initial tender had seen heavy criticisms in some quarters with government being accused of, among other things, pre-determining the supplier of the laptops.
There were also accusations of not enough transparency.
The bids submitted yesterday were:

Bidder	Amount	Type of Netbook/Laptop
Fatz Express Packaging Services (T&T)	US$21,629,000	No sample submitted
InfoStock of Spain/Global Services Limited	US$8,748,000	MSI Brand Netbook
McEarney Business Machine (MBM) of Trinidad (Ansal McAl)	US$7,846,154	HP Netbook
Abboud Trading Corporation of Florida, USA	US$9,072,000	Samsung Netbook
Josh Gramhanssen of Denmark, Europe	US$7,479,000	Netbook PC (Made in China)
N.J. Computers of Trinidad	US$6,858,000	Acer Netbook
GOHIGH of China	US$7,141,500	Netbook PC (Made in China)
Haier Electrical Appliances Limited of China	US$8,316,000	Haier S19 Netbook
Deo Narine Singh/Nova Scotia Manufacturing Company (Guyana)	GY$1,633,554,000	Toshiba Netbook
Giftland Office Max (Guyana)	GY$1,466,775,000	ASUS Netbook
RRT Enterprise and Auto Sales of Guyana	GY$2,205,630,000	-Compaq Presario Laptop-Acer Laptop