Bid Protest Committee yet to begin work after almost two months

Sep 01, 2016 News

It has been a month and some weeks since Minister of State Joseph Harmon, on July 17 at a post-cabinet briefing, announced the official establishment of the Bid Protest Committee (BPC) which would look at the cases of unsatisfied contractors/tenderers who want specified contract awards to be investigated.
The BPC falls under the umbrella of the Ministry of Legal Affairs. An official within that Ministry told Kaieteur News that since the establishment of the committee, the members have met only once and there has been no official work done as yet. It has also been disclosed that there is no established office or means of contact with the BPC.
In wake of the Haags Bosch Landfill site contract being awarded to Puran Brothers on July 14, Cevon’s Waste Management had come forward with several complaints regarding the bidding process and the eventual awarding of the contract.
Cevon’s who had partnered with Ivor Allen and Ground Structure United in their bid for the contract but were unsuccessful, cited favouritism and skullduggery on the part of the Ministry of Communities in the bidding and awarding process of the landfill site management contract.
Ivor Allen at the time had told Kaieteur News that they officially lodged a complaint with the Bid Protest Committee and had expressed “absolute confidence that the BPC would get to the bottom of this (awarding of the contract).”
However almost two months later, it has been alleged that no investigations have been launched into the bidding and procurement processes of the Haags Bosch contract by the committee.
Kalesh Puran, a director of Puran Brothers, when contacted by Kaieteur News last evening, said that no one has contacted him from the BPC since the complaint was lodged by Cevon’s.
The three-member committee comprises Attorney General Basil Williams as its Chairperson, former Manager of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT), Archie Clifton and Company Secretary of Insurance Brokers Limited, Ewart Adams, while CEO of Property Protection Services, Colin Shaw, is a rotating third member.
The committee deals with alleged breaches of the Public Procurement Act, by procuring entities. Section 52 of Guyana’s Procurement Act provides for written protests by contractors within five working days from the award of the tender.

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