Procurement process in Region Nine muddled - AG Report

Procurement process in Region Nine muddled – AG Report

Nov 30, 2012 News

The Auditor General’s Office was unable to determine whether the tender process administered by the Region Nine Administration in 2011 was fair and in keeping with the prescribed procedures in the Procurement Act of 2003.
According to the Auditor General’s Report 2011, the Audit Office was unable to scrutinize evaluation sheets and reports for 16 contracts awarded by the Regional Tender Board because the Administration did not present them in full.
“An examination of the Regional Tender Board Minutes revealed that the basis for awards of contracts differed. These included awards to the “lowest bidder”, “most responsive bidder”, “based on Evaluation Committee’s recommendation”, “fourth lowest at Engineer’s Estimates”, and “bidder has relevant machinery and equipment”, among others,” the report stated.
It was noted that a request made to the Regional Administration for the submission of evaluation sheets and evaluation reports in relation to 17 contracts for audit scrutiny was met with the presentation of only one contract in full.
As such, the Audit Office faced several limitations and was unable to ascertain on what basis the Evaluation Committee made its recommendations; whether contracts were awarded in keeping with those recommendations; criterion used by the Evaluation Committee to make its recommendations; and whether the Evaluation Committee used the same criterion for evaluating all bids.
The report also stated that a perusal of 34 contracts for works awarded and executed revealed unsatisfactory features. Eight contracts exceeded durations without the requisite approval for extensions – one of the contracts exceeded its duration by five months, whilst three were exceeded by four months.
In addition, the Regional Administration did not apply any penalties to defaulting contractors even though it is provided for in the contracts. However, three contracts did not have durations. And, final inspection certificates were not provided for 13 contracts – as such the Audit Office could not have ascertained whether there was any breach in contract duration.
According to the report, “It could be concluded that the execution of contracts was not properly administered by the Regional Administration. As a result, the Administration may not be receiving full or timely benefits for the projects executed.”
In response to these discrepancies, the Head of the Budget Agency said the findings are acknowledged and systems have been put in place to have the discrepancies corrected and prevent recurrences.
Hence, the Audit Office recommended that the Regional Administration adhere strictly to the terms and conditions of the Procurement Act of 2003.

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Procurement process in Region Nine muddled – AG Report

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